Thanksgiving = Being thankful

December 29th, 2011 lawgoh

A simple “Thank you” is what a thankful spirit is. I for one am so thankful whenever someone hold the lift door for me, and now, for me while I push a baby stroller through. So, what are the things to thank for this year?

First we should be thankful to God for He created us for eternity except our forefathers Adam and Eve sinned and death entered into the world. But Jesus Christ loved and saved us through His willing sacrifice on the cross that now “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We can believe on the name of Jesus Christ as our savior and have eternity assured! 

Second, for my Mum and Dad who brought me into this world and not just that. They had cared for me from infancy to adulthood, many times even now. (so how can we say we arrived at success on our own?) Having our newborn John and taking care of him 24/7 (24 hours, 7 days a week – i.e. without break), Daisy and I can now understand why God told us to “Honor your father and your mother” (Exo 20:12) We will not be here if not for their 24/7 care. So, we wish to thank Daisy’ s father and mother too.

Thirdly, we should thank our church leaders, members and many others in church who had supported and encouraged us with their care and prayers. We are also thankful to Lawrence’s two sisters and other church members who extended extra support and care during Daisy’ s confinement period.

Lastly, thanks to faithful reader(s) of this blog, that we can post this. You are the reason why this blog continues to exist. God bless you!

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Check out NLT bible

December 9th, 2011 lawgoh

It’ s not exactly the best English Bible translation out there, but it’s really great for reading aloud and getting a contemporary understanding..

New Living Translation Facebook

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New father thoughts

November 27th, 2011 lawgoh

Nothing can prepare a father-to-be for the joy and excitment of beholding and then actually holding your newborn. Together with a midwife, I saw first-hand Baby John came out into this world. God was so good in granting us a smooth and safe normal delivery. It was also short (8 hrs) compared to the average of 16 hrs first child normal delivery.

Baby John 2 weeks old

Daisy and I read quite a bit of pregancy and baby caring books but nothing compares with getting to know your baby and keen observation. And Baby John has and will keep changing I gather in the weeks to come. At the start, we had to get up 3 to 4 times a night as Daisy breastfeed him. But now, he usually has a feed 10 – 11pm and will sleep till 3 or 4am, so we are doing 1 to 2 times. Night shifts are tough but we adapt. Daisy sleeps more during the day but I don’ t so I respond slower during the night..

Being a new father during your newborn’ s 0 to 4 weeks is also a tough time because your wife is doing her postnatal confinement. Being in-between jobs help and I wonder if that is why God allowed me this period of free time at home, with the purpose of looking after my wife and baby! Besides cooking (together with my mum) for her [special confinement food, 4 recipes I tried all with sesame seed oil and ginger], I also do the laundry, washing, cleaning, etc. I wonder how a new mum without sufficient help can survive this first month if not for supportive family members? Thank God for them, and they come in the form of my mum, my YOUNGER sis Lena, and visits from a very busy but SO HELPFUL church aunty. God is good and being a new father is enjoyable because of support!

 

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ESVBible.Org’ s 12 ways of Daily Devotions

November 3rd, 2011 lawgoh

ESVBible.org Devotions and Reading Plans from Crossway on Vimeo.

Check it out and let me know what you guys think? :-)

http://about.esvbible.org/resources/reading/

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Judge Rightly

October 27th, 2011 lawgoh

Policies, red tape, requirements, restrictions and regulations all seem nice for corporate governance BUT when it comes to judging people, God’ s word tell us in John 7:24 NOT to judge by appearance, but judge with right judgement.

 

Just what constitute right judgement? In the context of this passage, we should study from John 7:14 to 22, the preceding account of what happened during the Feast of Booths. We note the following useful points in answer to how to judge rightly:

 

1. Not attributing wisdom to self but to God (John 7:16).

a)        Jesus did not say, “Of course I am so smart, I have studied this, done that, etc. Instead, he mentioned that his teaching is not his but of God the father who had sent him!

2. Not seeking self glory but God’ s glory. (John 7:18)

a)        On whose authority am I seeking to do these things? Teach, minister, preach, judge, etc? For self-glory or God’ s glory? The point about “real” care and love manifested in helping someone on the Sabbath is further revealed.

3. Not judging by the outside but look to the inner intentions. (John 7:19-23)

a)        Jesus was outright and straightforward to proclaim the “deadly” intentions of the Jews who kept not the law and sought to kill him (John 7:19). Perhaps when persecuted, Christians should be forthright to stand up and say, “Hey, why do you persecute me when I am doing right?!!”

b)        Jesus was using a good logical argument from what the Jews deem right according to the law of Moses to circumcise on the Sabbath. His point, if you can keep the Sabbath by breaking the Sabbath and in removing part of a man’ s body, then what he did was also right for he made a man’ s whole body well. Christians need to know how to use logical arguments to their cause. Hence, one should pick up good Christian defensive apologetics!

c)        Point b) above rightly leads to the conclusion in John 7:24 in which the Judging Rightly objective can be met if one goes beyond the outward appearances of things, do this only during when, where, how, with what… But one does right and should be judged right because his intentions were right and with right consequences. This is no easy feat but people judged wrongly all the time, BUT, Christians should endeavor to do better!

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Faith in Prayers (Luke 18:1-8)

September 30th, 2011 lawgoh

“I will give her justice” said the unrighteous judge who was overtly bothered by the persistent widow seeking “justice against adversary”. This justice came from an unrighteous judge who “neither feared God nor respected man” (Luk 8:2) Now, people who read this short account may think that since this is a parable and not as applicable for use in today’ s context. But as Luke (the author) pointed out quite clearly (Luke 8:1), Jesus gave this parable to his disciples as they “ought always to pray and not lose heart”.

Do we lose heart in prayers and why? Perhaps we think (too easily) that things do not change with prayers? Or that prayers move too slow? Or the justice what we seek is just too impossible? We and (I especially) should pay heed to Luke 8:6-8a which Jesus replied that Christians (the elect) who “cry to him day and night” will obtain justice from Jesus (God) and without delay. Verse 7 expressed this rhetorically with verse 8a (beginning of verse 8) explicitly “he will give justice to them speedily”. Oh, such comforting words surely for many who had suffered injustice in their Christian lives.

But do not overlook the close of this passage, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Oh, how sad this ending! This hints at the end, when Jesus comes, the small number of faithful, prayerful Christians to be found. Perhaps I should trust God more, in faithful, persistent prayers to ask for justice which He will be pleased to deliver speedily. May God help us in this regard!

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Improve Singapore public buses

September 22nd, 2011 lawgoh

Compared to taking public buses in China, our local buses do not announce the bus stops. I was recently finding my way somewhere and had on two occasions had to “look real hard” out the bus windows to identify the HDB block number or the shopping complex where I will be stopping. A simple per-stop audio accouncement will solve this problem with a “next stop, Blk 120, passengers going to… pls get ready to alight”.

By the way, the Chinese version had a shorter English version too. So perhaps our local buses can add a Chinese one too.. This helps foreigners to better find their way around our island ya?

What do you guys think?

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We are Back Home

September 1st, 2011 lawgoh

It’ s good to arrive back home, we came back early Sunday morning (2am) and will be looking to deliver our firstborn in mid Nov! While plans are not quite firmed yet, we expect that our Almighty Lord will take care of (soon-to-be) all three of us! Let us know if you are meet up for a catch-up session! :-) My handphone no. is still the same!

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Repentance (from Gospel of Matthew)

May 23rd, 2011 lawgoh

The greatest obstacle to genuine repentance is found in those who somewhere got just enough religion to be inoculated against its further demands.

G. T. Montague, Companion God: A Cross-Cultural Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (New York: Paulist, 1989), 36

Does repentance or true repentance entail true change?  Does this change or lack of change mean one is not truly repented and thus, really not a Christian truly? I believe John the Baptist through the Gospel of Matthew points out that true, genuine change must occur in a Christian after his or her true repentance.

Mat 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Mat 3:9  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Mat 3:10  Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 
 

Refer to James 2:14-26 for more examples why true faith must be evidenced by true works. The problem we Christians face today is “playing” religion just like the Pharisees or the Sadducees. They went to John’ s baptism but not to seek his baptism or recieve his message of repentance. Likewise, today many people come to church not truly seeking God (though one may believe so) and desiring the genuine change this encounter must entail (God’ s word seeks to change believers).  Worse still, many are born in Christian cultures or born in a Christian family. But no one can trust in these (just as in church membership or church service) as signs of genuine repentance which begins on the inside (one’s  heart) and then shown clearly on the outside (from one’ s works). This outside evidence may take time, but clearly one must manifest such works if one wishes to be a genuine Christian.

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Book review: Outlive Your Life (Max Lucado)

May 6th, 2011 lawgoh

Check out Amazon preview!I got this book from Booksneeze and it is good. Once again, Max Lucado gave the Christian perspective on what it means to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” (Matt 5:13-14) There are various key points that strike me profoundly. In his third chapter “Let God Unshell You,” he first contemporises what the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost will be like in New York city’ s context, then made the point that God’ s intention from then till now is still the same. God intends to use us to speak for Him, to proclaim His message, to show His compassion.

With whom are you the most fluent?

For whom do you feel the most compassion?

God’ s purpose in giving his Spirit is that we can speak to those we can speak to most fluently, to make a difference in those we feel the most compassion for. The last part of most chapters give some real life examples of everyday people who acted.

This book should speak to all Christians who seek to live lives pleasing to their Master, Savior and Lord. It sends a timely message because Christians are called to make a difference by being the salt of the earth and light of this world. If we are unsure of how to begin something, chapter 15 tells us to first get on our knees, “Pray First; Pray Most.”

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