What'sup?

My 59^th birthday just passed a couple of days ago. Looking towards one more year before I officially qualify as a Senior Citizen. Hopefully, I will still be able to jog, see and live healthily.

So, what has happened to me for the past one year?

Work has taken a great deal of toil on me. As I get older, doing those microscopic stuff has strained my eyes greatly for the past few years. My blood pressure has shot up quite a bit. And I have been thinking of it lately what has caused this. I have kept a strict regime on food – no salt, sugar; less meat; more vegetables and food; sleep early @9:45pm; exercise regularly with weight, skipping and jogging. And yet nothing has improved. The only reason is due to stress in work and a high strain on my eye which I grow tired after looking at the electronic board for a while with my naked eyes.

And so, I am thinking of retiring …

First, I need to be financially sound. In the past, I don’t have a good saving habit. I tend to give away to charities, mission organizations, etc. and believing that I can trust God for my needs in the future. I gave more than I save. But, now… I still have expenses to fulfil. So, without much saving, I still cannot retire. For the past 3 years, I started to learn about investing. This makes me to be more diligent in my saving (and reduce my giving). I wish I have realize this and save earlier. Hopefully, I should be ready to retire in 1 to 2 years times.

Be thankful and grateful.

The children are doing well. Thank God that HE has blessed them and things are going well for them.

Hopefully, I will write more regular in future.

Agape

Joining another new Spiritual Family

About 2 months back, we attended a briefing at RiverLife church for new membership. I guess, it is about time for me to think seriously where I should have a more permanent home rather than just be a worshipper. It has been almost 7 years when I came to RIverLife Church, which is less than 2km from my house. There are strong and weak points in this church, as with all churches for we are not perfect.

The strong emphasis of RiverLife Church of being a missional church is perhaps what makes it a vibrant and growing church. Throughout the year, there are many mission trips to various part of Asia, each with different objectives, be it training of church leaders, medical helps, evangelism, youth outreach & ministries, or even training Children ministries. These mission trips are also inter-generations. It was the 2015 mission trip to Saragani in the Philippines that help me to better understand how RiverLife Church operates their mission events. Also, by participating in this mission trip, I got to know more people and hence it is about time to seriously consider being part of the new family.

  Evangelism is quite common and there is nothing about  “fear” as we always heard it being mentioned in the previous church whenever we talked about evangelism. As such, the church is a growing church. New members and baptism classes are conducted regularly, about 3 times a year. However, for some reasons which is not mention, the recent worship attendance showed that there is a drop in worshipper. Guess, RiverLife Church may be strong in opening their “front door”, the “back door” is also quite wide! I think they may not have realized this yet and there is no mentioning of how to retain membership.

This year, I joined the Word ministry as a facilitator / Bible study leader in the PRECEPT ministry. The leader of my study group approached me and invited me to be a facilitator.  It is in this ministry where we get participant to do Inductive Bible Study. So, I think I have finally found what I have always wanted to do – to study the Word of God – in RiverLife Church.  Without the proper studying of the Word, there is really no Spiritual food in RiverLife to feed the flock. Sunday sermons are usually more like public speaking speeches, and picking verses from the Bibles to substantiate what the preachers want to say. For me, it is not really a sermon but rather a pep talk. Some speakers share their stories, others try to make it look like a sermons but it is just sharing of their devotional thoughts, like our own “Quiet Time” every morning. So, for the undiscerning, the speakers seem “anointing”, a word that we commonly hear in RiverLife. In any case, I don’t really rely on the Sunday Sermons to grow in the Lord. I do have my own Study-the-Bible plan, even before I came to RiverLife church.  Now that I am in the Precept Ministry, it is more in-line with my plan of growing in the Word.

 Hopefully, with a new cell group which I joined in 2016 and now being in a bigger family, may Heb 10:24,25 be living in my life:

 “And let us consider how to stir up one another in love and good works. No neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day drawing near”

 Agape

Reflection on being a Bible Study Facilitator

It caught me by surprise when the precept 40 minutes Bible Studies ended last Tuesday, 30 May 2017. The class participants gave me a Thank You card and a gift box. There were many words of encouragement and appreciation for the six weeks spent with them. The skill that I imparted on how to study Bible Epistles paid off, I hope. The material: “How Do You Walk The Walk You Talk?” is based on the Epistle of Ephesians. I thank the LORD that He answered my prayer; as I prayed for the attendees daily that they may grow to know the Word of God and increase in knowledge, hunger spiritually and put into practice what they learn from the class lessons and discussions.

This is my first class as facilitator for a Bible Study group in River Life Church, so there is no knowledge of whether I am doing the right thing. There was no proper training for leading a Bible Study discussion. I signed up for the Bible Study leading course from Singapore Precept Ministry but they have not enough students to conduct a class. Before I became a facilitator for this class, I was attached to a mentor for the previous class in February-March. But I felt that the way he conducted the class was to show how much knowledge and experience he had, rather than helping the students to grow in the knowledge of the Word of God. I wouldn’t want to follow his style in leading a Bible Study group. Also, the way he mentored me seemed a bit domineering, acting as if he is an “expert”. It is good to teach me humility and submissive to his style and ways during that period. I can imagine how much the class “benefited” from him. And so, I was contemplating to lead the class differently.

Then, a week before the class started, I happened to stumble into the mentor in the church. He remarked that the Studies on “How Do You Walk The Walk You Talk?” as very “straight forward”.  He implied that the Bible Study is simple and has no in-depth material. After that, I was more determined to do some teaching on his Bible Study, giving the class some added knowledge on how to study the Epistle, rather than just do some marking and discussions.

During my first week, I taught them how to read the epistle just like the original readers of the letter, detecting the tone, feelings of the writer; looking for contrast and similarities; identifying key words and key verses; using questions by making use of the 5W and 1H. And the end of the observations, students should be able to write of lists of observations in tabulated forms. I spent the first 3 lessons teaching and demonstrating how this was done. I even gave them my work done, teaching by examples and step by step demonstration. During the course, I received some feedback that they like the method. I was definitely new to most of them. During the second class, my ministry leader came to sit in my class and observe how I led the class. I was as bit nervous to be under scrutinised. At the end of the class, she remarked that I should not teach but facilitate. So, I knew that I may have done something wrong. Should I carry on with my method or just obey and follow what others facilitators are doing? In the end, I decided to follow her instruction and do discussion during the class with some teaching through email to the class for the fourth and fifth lessons. In the final lesson, I did a mixture of both teaching and discussion, helping them to make a clear and simple listing from the Bible passage. I ended the class with a Summary Chart to capture the 6 lessons. Again, the ministry leader came to my class. I was wondering why she did not even attend the other class facilitated by another new leader, just like me. Very likely, she is checking on me. Why just me? And not both of us? She may have her reason that is not for me to questions. At the end of the class, the Thank You card is the best reward that shows that I am doing the right thing.

Thank you, Lord!

My peace was shaken in a Car Accident

My stationary car was hit at the back by a car during a traffic jam this morning. The bang was loud and the driver sped off without stopping. After hearing the noise, I came out to see the damage. There were many scratches and some paint peeling off. I think there are no dents as I have no time to check. The whole road was jammed pack. The other car is a golden colour as his car paint stick to my car.

I was very sad. Many thoughts went through my mind at that moment. Why must this happen to me? How much inconvenience and money will it cause me? Beside, this is a new car. It is so unfair, I didn’t do anything wrong. That guy is so irresponsible. He should have stopped and be accountable!

The feeling was horrible. My emotion was disturbed and tested.

Last night, I tried to fix a clogged sink in my house’s toilet. But it got worst and the drainage connector from the sink to the outlet broke. I was fuming as I told my wife to call the plumber. I am losing money. And today, another bad accident happened 

.

Is heaven playing trick on me?

It was then I remembered this is the period of Lent and we are supposed to be meditative, pondering on the Gospel of John. Yes, John 14:27 “Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let them be afraid”

Yes, my peace was shaken, because of earthly possession – my car. This is just a temporal thing. The car can still be driven without problem. It is only a cosmetic issue.

“Whatever it is, LORD fills me with your peace. Remove anger and sadness from me. Thank you, LORD.”

As the peace of GOD continue to pour on me. I pray that I will be more careful and not to create any accident by driving recklessly. I can imagine what I will do if I hit somebody today instead of being hit by other. Bearing a clear conscience, I will stop and offer compensation, and will lose probably about $300. I rather put this $300 into the offering bag than to use it to pay for my careless mistake.

I think I will leave the damage to serve as a remembrance for the next 9 years!!

Agape

Getting Back to the WORD Ministry!

The Bible study guide book

It has been a gruesome 6 weeks of involving in facilitating the studies of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is my first term and I am sort off understudying a trainer to be a facilitator. I was given 2 sessions to facilitate and it has been good to learn new things and new approaches to study the Bible.

It all started about 3 years back when I was praying about God’s calling and how I can be more effective in God’s Kingdom. Sometime in 2016, I shared this to my cell group about this and was thinking about going to a Christian welfare organization to serve as a volunteer. Then a few months later, during the LIVING THE GOSPEL seminar, where we were told to learn to hear GOD and speak out what GOD had said to us about some members in the group; the overseer of my cell who was in my group at that seminar “prophesied”, telling me to go and serve in the ministry that I have intended. At that time, I thought it was GOD’s confirmation and as I was making up my mind to visit the Christian welfare organization, I felt a strong rebuke from the Holy Spirit to not to be allay by “seemingly prophecy”. It was then that I recalled that the overseer was present in the cell meeting when I talked about my intention to be a volunteer. “Be Patience!” I felt God’s prompting and assurance that He will show me the direction.

Also, in the beginning of 2016, Riverlife Church began to see the importance of teaching the church to grow in the WORD of GOD. I thought this is very important as previously, their emphases are on Mission/ Evangelism and Spiritual Gifts. And so, I was regular in their Bible Study for the whole year and at the end of December 2016, my leader sent me an email asking me to be a facilitator for the year 2017. As I read his email, I immediately wanted to turn him down as I felt that I was not ready to get involved. Then the Holy Spirit’s prompting was so strong and revealing that the WORD ministry is the area that I should get back into. After all, I have always love to read and study the WORD of GOD, and I could do it daily and spent a lot of time, yet still feel the joy of it.

We have finally completed the 6 weeks class last Tuesday. 

Receiving the certificate of facilitating 

And so I am back to reading and studying the Bible daily! For the past 3 days, I was studying on the Epistle of Ephesians. If only we Christians understand the rich blessings from God in the heavenly place when we are IN CHRIST (Chapter 1), then we need no longer crave for the worldly pleasures and sins that the world offer and tempt us!! Like Paul’s prayer for the saint of Ephesus, we need to know God, know HIS Calling, His riches and His power.

I am beginning to love this Epistle … let’s discover more spiritual from the WORD of GOD!

Eph 1:3 “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”

Agape

My Stock Market Investing Journey

When it comes to managing money, my philosophy is always to give as much as you can afford to those in needs. Firstly, give to the church and Christian organizations. Secondly, to charitable organizations that provide medical cares and those that helps the poor. Thirdly, I will render support financially to any of my relatives. This is my way of laying up treasure in heaven. (Matt 6:19,21). As such, I don’t really have a lot of savings, never more than $50k as emergency fund. But I am not concern about “rainy days” or having lay-off from my job as I believe God, Jehovah Jireh is my provider when I am really down in need.

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

But as I get older and near to retirement age, I realize that soon I will be out of job and out of money. $50k can probably last less than 2 years with frugal expenditure. Facing with this reality, I need to think of what happen when this day come in a few short years. Then in 2014, Pastor John Koe came to preach in Riverlife Church. He talked about how God helped him to invest in the stock market. This was the first time that I heard about preacher talking about stock investing. To me stock investing is equivalent to gambling. Yet, here is a pastor who is still investing in stock. This became the turning point – perhaps the stock market is the place to provide another income after retirement. And so the journey to understand and learn about what stock investing is all about begun in December 2014:

Stage 1: Stock market = Casino

The stock market is a risky place. That is what I used to believe. You just put money in and hope the price will go up. It all sound so random and luck. So, it is best to be avoided. But as I started to read more about trading and investing in the stock market, I find that there are actually technical analysis that help you to know how the market moves. Being an engineer and having acquired a technical and analytical mindset, the casino imagery of the stock market began to dissipate and risk can be managed through careful analysis and understanding of stock price action. I am still learning …

Stage 2: Stock market = dividend money tree

I also started read about how other people invest their money. One of the common ways is through dividend. You buy a company and the company give you money yearly, half-yearly or quarterly. Hopefully, the dividend continues every year and even grows bigger.

2 very inspiring investors using dividend method as passive income are:

Lady you can be free:  http://ladyyoucanbefree.com/

A Singaporean stock investor: http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.sg/

You will be amazed how much their dividend is every year. And they are just in mid forties. I encourage you to learn from them if you want financial freedom.

And so, I started to buy blue-chip stock. Sure enough I began to get dividends and got excited. But when the dividend comes, the stock prices of the companies dropped and continue to drop with no upside. I started in early 2015, when the Singapore stock index is the highest, close to 3200. It reaches the highest at about 3500 in April-May 2015.  And so, growing a dividend money tree is good only when the Stock index and stock prices is near the bottom. Or else, you have to continue to manage it when you buy at the peak prices like I did. After suffering some losses, I need to think what I should do. What should I do when the price drop?  Through common sense reasoning, I should sell my shares. And when it stabilized at the low, I bought it back. This way, I still have my stock and made money due to the sell-buy price. After trying it out a few times, it seems a good strategy for falling stock prices that I hold. That forces, me to learn more about stock trading rather than stock investing. And so, putting the paper losses aside, my journey to stage 3 began in end 2015.

Stage 3: Stock market = treasure field or minefield

My initial experience of stock trading is like finding treasure, looking for stock that look good and will be moving up soon. Occasionally, the technical analysis shows that it is moving up and so I found treasures. Sometime though, the price move against me and it is like stepping on a minefield. Making losses always hurt and create fear to continue in the stock market. Thankfully, my gain is always greater than my losses and God has been good in my learning journey so far. But I believe the stock market is not about finding treasure and avoiding minefield. There has to be a more systematic approach of entry and exit from the stock. And so my journey of learning continues to stage 4 in mid-2016.

Stage 4: Stock market = oceans with varieties of fishes

Actually, the stock market is an ocean with many types of fishes and sea creature. These are the different types of stocks – companies, REIT, ETFs and the common one that I familiar. The rest, I am still no interested. Just like catching fishes, there are many ways to trade the stock market. At this moment, I am still using a “line and hook” to trade with tiny bait, so to speak. I need to build confidence. Some stocks are easy to catch. Their up and down are so easy to see. Even if you made mistake, just wait for it to correct itself and move up again, so long as you never buy at the 52 week price, which I always avoid, having learn the mistake from 2015 when I first started. In fishing in the stock market, I need to control my emotions and follow closely to the technical chart. Sometime, my emotion got me excited when the price is falling I quickly throw my line and hook to buy. That is when I caught a “falling knife” and got losses. These are the time where I made losses. Otherwise, I am pretty OK. My trades are still very very small because of the lack of confidence. Also, my target is to exit those lose stock made in 2015 which I am still holding. So it became a stumbling block to move forward.

Be Financially Free

I wish I had learnt all these in my younger days. All it takes is actually 20 years to be financially free. Think about it, if you start working at the age of 25, earning $2.5k a month, you can actually retire at the age of 45 – 50. For the first 5 years, one should save about 20 to 25% of his salary. He should also learn all he can about stock investment and trading. After 5 years, with the knowledge and saving, he can then start to do some investment when the stock cycle is conducive to go in. Youth has the advantage of time.

There are 2 resources God has given to all of us, if you are born healthy. They are time, and your life. Firstly, always keep yourself healthy – eat well, exercise, sleep and rest. Next use your time to grow in wisdom - learn, experiment, increase knowledge and skills. Once, you have the knowledge and skills in almost anything that you set your goal in, you can then launch out to achieve it with your healthy life.

And with that I leave you a good verse from the Bible to chew on it:

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Eph 5: 15,16)

Agape

Devotion Reflection – Is growing old equal weakness? (1 King 1:1-4)

It’s quite a long time I share devotion reflection. So this is one for the new year.

…

Bible Passage:

1 When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. ² So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”

³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her

A giant killer, David the Goliath slayer now at 70 years old is weak and impotence, the exact opposite of the warrior David and women seeker in his younger days that we know him as. Is old age a problem? Is his sin of murder and adultery still weaken him spiritually? Is the family fighting and brokenness taken toil on him physically? Yes, it is a combination of all these. Here lie the great lesson, be like Caleb and Moses, the older they get, the stronger and more spiritual they are!

The palace court wanted to test David vitality. And so, offer him a virgin of immense beauty. Yet, David could not perform. What a let down. Only the men will understand this passage. Only the generals and court official will know what to do next. [that will be the next devotion reflection as we read the subsequent verses in 1 Kings 1]

Old does not mean weaker …

These days, I seem to pay more attention to old people around me. Seeing the way they walk and do things, I am now more conscious of myself. Hitting 58 years old soon, my new year resolution is “Be stronger than last year!”. And so, on Boxing Day, 26 Dec 2016, I finally decided to buy some weights and training equipment: (1) a 10kg adjustable dumbbell; (2) a skipping rope and (3) a rubber band.

Vigorous Exercises

For many years now, I am still with hypertension. My blood pressure is 150/89. Jogging and marathons has never helped. More vigorous exercises are needed, I presume. Right on the first day of New Year, my training starts. I discovered that skipping is the best form of exercise. I started with skipping 60 times, then 80 times , 100 times and recently, 100 times twice with a short rest at interval. Just after skipping a few days, the tight strain on my chest has disappeared. I no longer feel giddy and tired during the days. Good to do skipping rather than jogging.

Healthy Drinking / eating

I started to drink Green Tea again.  I use to see a lot of bubble on my urine. This happened frequently for a long time. It could be a sign of kidney problem. I suspect that this is due to the nuts and oat meal that I ate often. Its kind of protein related issue. After drinking Green Tea for the whole day, I find that there is no more bubble in the urine. Since then, I have been drinking Green Tea and see no more bubble on my urine. To prove that the bubble is caused by the urine, I took a lot of almonds for a day. Then, I saw quite a big amount of bubble on my urine again. So, I need to control the intake of protein related food. [wrong assumption to think that protein is good for the body, but can actually create other problem].

  

Age is no reason to be weak.

We should be like Caleb, who said:

¹⁰ “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! ¹¹ I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. (Joshua 14:10-11)

 I am still learning to live healthily and “Be stronger than last year!”

 Agape

Looking back, moving forward

A year has passed and I realised that I haven't come to this blog throughout the year! So, for 2017 I will try to write more.

It feels good to come to the end of 2016. There are a few positive things decision that I made that turn out well.

(1) Deciding on getting a new car
My car has reached its final 10 year usage on the beginning of March 2016. As the certificate of entitlement (COE) is very high at about $54,000, I was wondering whether it was worth to get a new car which cost about $113,000. Even after deduction of PARF and discount, it will still be more than my affordability. I remember the night before the COE bidding, I was making a very bold prayer. I told God that if He made the COE to drop by $10K, I will consider getting a new car, if the price is less than $90K+.

The next day, I saw in the internet news that the COE has dropped from $55K+ to $46,300, a drop of almost $10K. OK, so the first prayer was answered. I then prayed that if the car salesman made an offer to me via SMS in the afternoon with a much lowered price, I would contact him. This salesman had sold me 2 previous car and always sent me a birthday card, My contact is still with him. At about 2pm, indeed he sent me a SMS giving me a good price. And so, with 2 timely answered prayers, I was curious to find out exactly how much will be my new Corolla Altis 1.6 be. By the grace of God, I finally got the car at $88K.

Then, I started to reason, the price of the car may continue to drop,  not the work of God. So, I prayed again, telling Him to show me that it was HE who made the price of the car lower just for me. Now that I have gotten the car, I told Him to make the COE and the price of the car to go up, back to the original price of >$100K. Amazingly, God heard me and then the COE move back to $50K+ !!. To confirm that, I told Him to maintain the COE at >$50K+. Looking back through the year, it was only in December that the COE now is moving down to $48K.

Lesson: when praying, believe that GOD is showing you favour and you will get it. Prayer is exciting if you dare to ask and believe.

(2) Writing my devotion
I attended the 4 session on Living the Gospel conducted at RiverLife Church. One of the assignment is that we have to write our reflections on our devotion daily. And so, for the months of August to September, I started to journal my thoughts and reflection, spending my time reading and meditating on the book of Ecclesiastes. Writing my thoughts on Ecclesiastes - The meaning of Life, helps me to see the many facets of life  - time is life; life has its struggles, unfairness, life is relational ... and most of all our duty to God and how to pleases HIM - has helped me to see things in life from a higher, spiritual perspective. Things are much clearer if we can see how the spiritual and the physical are interlink. How the interlink is strengthen and bonded by prayers, by our walk with God, by our dealings with people. Once we understand all these, then living the Christian life takes a new meaning and dimension in life.

(3) Study the Holy Bible
This year Riverlife Church conducted 3 book studies - Luke, Hosea and Malachi. It is good to spend time on personal studies. Everyday, we need to do our assignment and meet to discuss on Tuesday night. And so, time priority must be given to doing assignment as that daily assignment are long and take about an hour a day. The prophetic books like Hosea are more difficult to study, as we need to do a lot of background work.

(4) Exercise & Jogging
I struggled to complete the Standard Chartered Marathon 2016, and the timing was bad. I had to walk that last 12 km and completed in 6 hour 12 min. So, for 2017, I need to develop strength and power. As such during this December 2016, I have started to train with weights and do more faster 10 km run. So far, the progress is good. With weight training, I know feel more power during the 10 km run.
I plan to continue increasing the distance each month. With discipline, I should be able to do the marathon in December 2017 without walking and jog all the way for the 42.195 km.

(5) Learning the stock market
I started to invest in the Singapore Stock market last year, 2015, buying some blue chips in the hope of building up passive income through dividends. However, I realised that by investing through collecting dividends, the stock prices invariably drop drastically. Dividend investing is not the smart way to invest. Dividend investing is only good when there is a market crash and the STI index is at the lowest, and all the stock prices are at multi-year low. In 2015, the stock market is at its highest and so all the stock prices that I bought are also at the near peak.

And so in 2016, I have awaken to see that dividend value is actually dividend trap. I then started to learn about technical analysis and how the market price movement react. Thankfully, I managed to sell off some bad stocks that I bought in 2015 with losses compensated by gain from other stocks. So, overall I manage to survive 2016 with a small profit. But there are still some "bad" stocks that I need to get rid off without making big losses. I hope I can do this in 2017.

Overall, I have learnt a lot about trading the stock market. But I am still a novice and beginner. In trading, one must have courage and a steady mind. Often times, it is the emotion that react first and that is where the losses occur. Trading the stock market is not for the fainthearted. This is the place to truly understand your own character; to see your fear or your greed; to understand how courageous and chicken-heart I am. It also taught me humility. After a few win, I thought I am progressing and felt "pride", only to get shot down when emotion get in the way of reading the chart wrongly.

The stock market is merciless. Only the sharp and alert minds survive. I was slaughtered a few times., to remind me to stay humble. Overall, it was a good year in the stock market. I am still learning and not taking high risk.

And so for 2017 ... I shall be:
(1) Fit,
(2) Financially educated,
(3) Faith growing in the WORD and devotion;
(4) Family focus and
(5) Friendship building.

Blessed New Year 2017 to all

Agape

Reflection Thought – The differences of being a “Martha” and a “Mary”

A new year, a new fellowship / cell group…

For the first time after a long while, I felt refreshed after coming home from a fellowship / cell meeting.

What a change! What make the differences?

1. A Competent Leader

Last Friday, we were at the new cell leader’s home. He actually did everything himself. First, he opened his home for the gathering, then he became the worship leader. He then led the Bible discussions and sharing what the text meant. He then became the prayer leader and led us in the closing prayer. During fellowship time, his wife became the host and served us, drink and some food. As usual, each of us also brought some food to the meeting. For once, I felt like I was sitting at the feet of Jesus just being fed spiritually and no need to be concerned about being asked to pray or do “ice-breaker” and some Bible discussion. We discussed four passages – John 21; Matt 11:28-30; Mark 6:30-44; John 15:1-5. It’s about loving, resting, trusting and abiding in Jesus.

You know, when you are called to do something that is impromptu or with preparation, most time, it is the kind of distraction and you dwell so much on yourself to do it well that you forgot about just to be there to learn and refreshed.

2. A Communion Environment

We may be new in this group, but the group discuss things sensibly. The people here speak words that edify one another. There are no meaningless jokes or casual gossips. Quite a change from the previous group, where there are people who talk and jokes too often.

There are also no unnecessary remarks from the leader after someone spoke, which happened so often in my previous group. So, it is a good change to allow a short pause for thoughts. Sensible leader makes the difference.

…

Looking back all those days in the old group, the way it was run usually surround with activities and a lot of talking and a lot of food. There were very little Bible passage discussions.  The stomach seems more important than the soul. Even if we open the Bible and read a passage, it was just casual reading.

In the previous group, we have a person appointed to facilitate of the Bible discussion each week. I began to observe that the facilitators are slowly beginning to compete with each others to see who is better. This in turn creates stress for a few who are weaker in creativity and in Bible knowledge. I received a few SMS from a facilitator after the meeting to ask for my feedback after the cell meeting. Personally, I feel that this is bad. We are there to learn and build up one another, not to show-case ourselves. This is a distraction.

All these contrasts between the new and old cell groups help me to understand the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 (NASB).

³⁸ Now as they were travelling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; ⁴² but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

This story is often misunderstood. We think that sitting down and listening is better than serving. Both are equally important. The difference between Martha and Mary is: one was distracted (v40) and the other did only one necessary thing (v42). If Martha was not distracted but opened her ears to hear what Jesus was teaching while serving, there will not be this story recorded by Luke. There are many exemplary women in the Bible who served without distraction – Phoebe, Dorcas, Peter’s mother-in-law, etc.

3. Only one thing Necessary

So, what is this “only one necessary thing” in every fellowship where Jesus is present?

To be refreshed by the WORD of Jesus!! That is what Mary got during the cell meeting with Jesus and His disciples. All other activities, while may be useful is not necessary.

For thus the Lord ^[God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,

(Isa 30:15)

Agape!

2015 – Do new things, 2016 – Do MORE new things!

Finally, the year 2015 has come to an end. Another new beginning is about to take place….

This year, I started to do something new.

1.    Pray More

It happened one day after the cell meeting. I realised that I have been talking too much and probably speaking too little edifying words. That was then I told myself: “Talk less.” And when I uttered those words to myself, I heard in my mind: “Talk less. Pray more!” An so the adventure of spending more time in prayer began each evening as I wrestle with the LORD over my life. Thank God, He heard me and granted my plea for my daughter’s scholarship. Better still, He speaks on unexpected occasions. On the Sunday service in about mid-August, an extra collection for mission fund was initiated; I was planning not to give to mission this year. Then as the bag was passing around and approaching me, I heard a voice: “Give, one hundred-fold”. It was a clear call for me to support the mission fund. So, in quick time as the bag came to me, I pulled out a $10 note and dropped into the bag. Later, as I was thinking about the incident, and wondering what this hundred-fold thingy meant, then it dawned on me that God will multiply my giving by returning it to me one hundred-fold what I have given for the mission fund. How will God make a $1000 come to me? I really have no idea, but that is His job if what I heard is true. Did I get the $1000? Yes. I did, in unexpected way. Praise the LORD! But why did HE give me this $1000?

I am still learning how to pray. More so, I am also learning how to listen to God’s voice. It is an exciting journey and I shall continue to pray and listen to God more in 2016.

2.    Be financially conscious

 It all started when Apostolic Pastor John Koe in several of this teaching and preaching mentioned that God told him to buy certain stocks in the stock market and the price rose after he bought them. That, to me is something totally new. I have never invested in stock, and also I don’t think God want to make us rich through the stock market.

I have $10,000 in a fixed deposit and honestly I don’t even know what the interest per annum is. Then sometime early this year, I saw a bank statement stating that for 6 months of deposit, my interest was $12.50. That really woke me up. I think I could do better than a 0.25% gain for a $10,000 in 6 months. And so, I read up on stock investing, started to open a stock account and put some money on blue-chips and more secure stocks. Initially, stock prices went up and I sold off these, and sure, I made some money for the first few months as the STI index reaches its peak in April 2015. Then, everything changed from May onwards and it was a downward movement. So I just hold my stocks and collect dividends, which is not bad either. The only loss is the paper-money loss in the stocks, which I believe in a long terms will recover. In late August 2015, the stock market dropped drastically. Prior to that day, I did something which seemed stupid at the time – I sold off some stocks even though it was below the buying prices. I didn’t know why I did that but I just felt terrible seeing the prices kept dropping every day. On that fateful day, 25 August when the STI index plunged, I quickly bought back many of all those stocks that I sold and some new ones. As quickly as it dropped, it then went up also and I made good gains. Things moved so fast that I wasn’t even sure what I did right. As the month of August came to an end, I found that I made a gain of $1001. The amount of money gained took familiar and I recalled the words – “Give, 100-fold”. I don’t think I will do what I have done in the stock market again as I really don’t know what I have done during that week when the stock prices fell. I am still holding to all the invested stocks mainly for dividend now. It is just too risky to sell at a loss and hoping to buy back at a lower price. But hey, that is a good method to make gains and I still used it sparingly when I am certain the prices of stocks will continue to drop and will recover in a short while later, which is usually true.

My sole purpose of wanting to collect dividend on the stock market is to prepare for retirement in a few years. Then, I can still use the dividends to give to charity organizations that I am currently supporting. With this investment and the dividends that I now collected, I started to give to Scripture Union, Singapore this year. I am hoping that this investment will grow and I can give to more organizations next year, in addition to those that I am supporting monthly for many years now – GMB, SA, NKF, St Luke Hospice and SBC.

3.    Mission Trip

This year, I went for my first ever mission trip to Sarangani, Philippians. I learnt many things there and that has changed my life now. I have written this in my previous post. In 2016, I will be more conscious and make an effort to go for mission trips and see how the LORD will lead. And the special thing about this trip is … the mission trip fee is all sponsored by God! The $1000 and a subsequent money gain were just enough for the mission trip for myself and my daughter who also went for the mission trip!! I didn’t need to fork out any money for the trip.  “When GOD gives a VISION, HE also gives the PROVISION!” Amen!

Isa 42:9 (NRSV)

See, the former things have come to pass, 
and new things I now declare; 

before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

For the new year 2016,  do more new things …

So, I will be focusing on 5Fs – Faith; Fitness; Family; Friends; Finance

Faith – Doing more reading on the Bible and writing about devotions as reflection-thoughts. I will post some of these reflections in this blog. I will make an effort to post at least once a month of my Biblical reflections. Definitely, I will pray more … and listen more.

Fitness – I must be more discipline to train for the Marathon. For the past few years, I did not do well for the Marathon. This year, I struggle to complete the marathon as my training was badly affected by the haze in September to early November. In 2016, I will work on strength, speed and cover more distance in my run. So, God helps me! (new target is faster than 5hr 7min)

Family – I thank God for my wife and the 3 girls. They are my inspirations and drive in everything I do. One of my daughter will be going to Australia and likely our next holiday trip will be there to. Hopefully, one day I will run the Marathon there also. (Wow, something new?)

Friends – I have been to Riverlife Church for 5 years now. In the coming years, I must get to know more people. So I will be looking out for new cell groups and see if I can grow in friendship.

Finance – I need to learn more and grow more in my investment. Then, I need to give more to charity and find a new organization to support in 2016. Presently I am thinking about Our Daily Bread (ODB) and TTC.

And so, have a Blessed New Year, 2016!!

Agape!

Isa 48:6 (NRSV)

You have heard; now see all this; 
and will you not declare it?

From this time forward I make you hear new things,

hidden things that you have not known.

Mission Trip Reflection - I Left My Heart in Sarangani

RiverLife Mission Trippers (I'm standing on the second left)

 On 27 to 30 Nov 2015, I joined RiverLife Church on an oversea Mission Trip to Sarangani, South Philippines. This is my first mission trip. We conducted 2 evangelistic meetings, prayers for the sick and also assisted the medical team with 2 doctors in the team. Saragani is not my first preference. I actually signed up for Yangon in September. But there was no doctor available and so the church had to cancel that mission trip.

Why did I decide to go for this Mission Trip?

I had never gone for any mission trip before. What can I do there? I don’t think I can contribute in any significance ways. In June this year, after Rev Daniel Lim from International House Of Prayer (IHOP, Kansas City) came to teach and preached in RiverLife Church, he encouraged us to pray for 1 hour daily and also to read 10 chapters of the Gospels daily. It was a difficult assignment for me. So, I tried to do these, at least for a good few days. Certainly, when we “draw near to God, He will draw near to us” (Jas 4:8)

Reading 10 chapters of the Gospels is very challenging. It was difficult to remember so many short stories in the Gospel at one go. So after one round of completing the 4 Gospels, I decided to read it again slowly…& pray about what I read, and just do it for half an hour a day, regardless of how much chapters I have covered. It was then, I learnt to be sensitive to His prompting – The WORD and Prayer always go together, like 2 hands clapping, creating an impact. I remembered the day as I was reading on the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 9) and praying for the compassion of Christ for the multitude and the ripe harvest field:

³⁶ When he saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

2 words in this short passage keep coming to my minds as I prayed for the missionaries in the mission fields – compassion and workers. I need compassion and I need to be a worker. As I continued to pray, I felt the LORD telling me to go and try it out, don’t just kneel down and pray. I was scared, I stop praying and try to think of excuses. Every month, I give quite a good portion of my salary to organizations with mission work, “Lord, see, I have done my part, right?” Silence. No more prompting from the Spirit. (Have I quenched the Holy Spirit?)  “OK, Lord, I will go.”

We stayed at King James Hotel, a simple motel with double-decker beds for twin sharing. The room is really small and queasy.

Mission Work in Saragani

We spent the Saturday and Sunday ministering to the Blaan Tribe. Most of the tribal people are farmers, living simple lifestyle. Many are uneducated and could not speak English or Tagalog. We need the local churches help for interpretations.

Day 1 (28^th Nov):

Day 1: crowd response to altar call

On the first day, we had our evangelistic meeting in a school training shade. The whole place was packed and people kept coming. Seeing the huge crowd, tear came to my eyes as I saw what Jesus saw – they were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. After the first Evangelistic meeting which Pastor Rhoda preached, many raised their hands in responded to the altar call. I found Eleazer to be my interpreter. Together, we approached those who raise their hands and talk to them. We also prayed for healing for many of them suffered under the harsh lives as farmer labouring under the hot sun. I remember one pregnant lady, Mala came to me with tearful eye. She said that the baby inside her is not moving any more and request prayer for the baby. Nervously, Eleazer and I prayed really hard that our God who give life and who bring this baby into her body will also sustain the life of the baby inside her. I believe God will protect her. After we prayed, I asked her to go for checkup, but Eleazer said that the people don’t have money to see doctors.

Many rush to collect used clothing from us during the lunch break. What we Singaporeans have taken for granted are precious to them. Could we help them to have a better life in other ways also?

Giving clothing to the Blaan People

  In the afternoon, I was asked to pray for the sick after their medical consultation. Being very new to such mission work, I just want to be led by the Spirit to do what He wanted me to do. As I interact and pray for them, I soon sense their difficult life, many of them look much older than their age. Also, most of them married and have children at a very young age. As I pray for them, I also sense that relational problem is one issue that cause their sickness.

Lyka, 30 years old came to me with a deep cut wound on her neck. The fresh could be seen. Through the interpreter, Isabel, I asked her what caused the injury. As they were having a long conversation in their Blaan dialect, suddenly, I heard an inner voice telling me, “her husband slashed her.” Just to be certain that I was not in illusion, I looked at the medical record and saw that her occupation is a housewife, meaning that she is married. I waited for a while and then interrupted the conversation by telling Isabel to ask Lyka, “Did your husband slashed your neck?” Isabel turned and stared at me in shock. “I cannot tell you.” She said quickly and walked away. I was kept wondering what going on? Later, she returned with Ed, the pastor’s son and Ed told me that Lyka was slashed by her husband. They had divorced and now Lyka is worried that the husband is planning to harm her. We then prayed for healing and protection for Lyka.

Later, I saw Pastor Ken and told him about the whole incident. Pastor Ken explained that in tribal village, the harm that her husband wanted to do could be through black magic or spiritual occult.

Then there is Radquel, 22 years old, who is dumb after giving birth to a 4 month old baby. Through the conversation, I founded that her husband had died earlier while she was pregnant. After praying for her, she managed to utter the words: “Amen” and “Praise God”. I sense strongly that it was the emotional hurt that stifled her speech. I encouraged her to let go of the past and move forward in life, if she want to gain her speech again.

That night, before I went to sleep, I asked the Lord, why He wanted me to know about Lyka being slashed by her husband. “She needs spiritual protection”. If I had not known about her situation, I would have just prayed for healing for her. It was a busy Saturday. We had breakfast at 5.30am, and so I woke up at 4:30am to have some devotion. Today, I prayed for hours for the Blaan people. As I reflected on the day, God seem to tell me why He wanted me to be here in Sarangani – to see how God love the world (Jn 3:16), and I too to learn how to love the world. Thank you, Lord. You had to force me out of my comfort zone to see how You love the world.

Day 2 (29^th Nov):

Day 2: crowd hearing Pastor Rhoda preaching

On Sunday, again I woke up at 4:30am. What would I learn from God today? I wonder.

Arriving at about 7am at the gymnasium, the team spent some time in worship and prayer. The place had no electricity and Pastor Rhoda was concerned and she managed to get help, while the team prayed for smooth running of the day’s events. God is good, as people started streaming into the gymnasium; the electricity has been fully restored. Once again, my personal quotation of: “God may be slow, but never late” comes true.

During prayer time, one lady came to me crying and through the interpreter; she claimed that her kidneys were very painful. We prayed for her and after praying, the interpreter asked her how she felt. They talked for a while and he brought her up to the stage to testify. I could not understand what is going on as they were not speaking in English. Then a large group of people came to me and again, I started to pray for individual after asking them about their sicknesses through the interpreter. There is no time to verify whether any healing took place. My hope is that our LORD will continue to work His healing power on this people.

In the afternoon, I was again at the last station, praying for the patients after their medical consultation. This time, I managed to share the Gospel using the Bridge to Life illustration to Alrey, a Catholic. He came to get some medicine for his ulcer. After asking about his faith, I felt that he needed to know about Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord because his faith is based on his family and he just followed them. I led him to say the salvation prayer through the interpreter.

Joshua Sarosa, 11 years old was carried by his mother, Jennylyn as he suffered from polio since birth and is mentally handicapped. He appeared to be a 3-years old boy. As I saw them, my heart cried for them and the suffering she and the boy had endured all this 11 years. I prayed my longest prayer during this mission trip for them. It was at this moment; I wished the Prophet Elijah is in our midst and just performed a miracle on this boy, restored him mentally and strengthened both his feet. But nothing of this sort happened. Perhaps, God has His own timing. I believe HE will make everything beautiful for Joshua and Jennylyn in God’s timing.

There was a lady who came to me with her left middle finger paralyzed. When I squeezed her finger, she could not feel anything. Also, when I instructed her to bend the finger, she could not do it. Her index finger was also injured with scars, probably through hard labour. After praying for her and for the middle finger to have mobility and feelings, I again checked on her. This time, she could bend the middle fingers and feel my pinching. To be sure, I made her do that a few times.

For the more than two hours, I encountered many people with backache and pain all over their bodies. Life in Blaan tribe, working under the scorching sun is tough. The more I prayed for them, the more my heart felt for them. I thank God that I can now look at people and see them as the image of God, not just a human being.

Lessons Learnt from this mission trip

This trip has certainly strengthened my prayer life. It has stirred in me a greater desire to talk to God as a personal friend. In the past, prayer is a duty and a request to ask from our Daddy God. Now, prayer is a friendship and the path to the heart of God, to see people and things as HE sees. Prayer is now not just me talking to God, but to hear His Rhema word and be His servant and friend. I believe that is why HE spoke to me about Lyka’s condition.

My eyes have somehow opened to get a glimpse of what missionaries are supposed to do. I may not have seen the whole picture, but certainly, I have seen their hearts of compassion and a love for the people they serve. Would I be able to do more and one day heeds that calling? May be a few more of these short trips to sharpen myself would certainly help in the preparation.

Giving financially to mission has added a new meaning after this trip. I could see how the money is being put to good use. My next step is to increase the portion of my monthly salary to mission work.

Above all, I have added Lyka, Radquel, Joshua, Jennylyn, Alvery and others into my daily prayer. My heart goes to them and hope that God will transform their lives and make them beautiful in HIS times (Ecc 3:11)

Agape

Kar Wai, my room-mate and two Blaan pastor’s sons – Eleazer (between Kar Wai and me) and Ed, serving as interpreters