reflection on my trip to Israel

Due to the logistical consideration, this trip was done from North to South of Israel and not based on Chronological sequence.
Day 1
From Singapore to Tel Aviv
Places visited - Caesarea Maritima + Megiddo + Nazareth Biblical Village + Mt Precipice + Nazareth town
It was in interesting experience to step upon the soil of the “Holy land”.
The place helped to explain the scripture because of the references to the actual or traditional sites.
We were not supposed to visit Megiddo. But was glad that the rain helped us to take shelter there. I had always wondered how Megiddo looked like since this would be the place for the final battle.
The Biblical village was very well done up to help us appreciate the times of Jesus. The bonus was to meet my uncle and auntie with Rev Lorna here as well.
Was saddened to see the place of our faith being replaced by others.
Nazareth had been occupied by the muslim for a long time now.

Day 2
Journey to Mt of Beatitudes, Mt Beatitudes, Capernaum, Near St Peter’s Primacy,
Crossing Sea Galilee
Mt of Beatitudes was very crowded. Many came to read scriptures, worship and visit this historic place. Wondered if their acts were worship or ritual. Such a fine line.
Capernaum was a good education site to show us how close the people stayed with one another. It further reinforced the experience at the biblical village. Jesus was a next door neighbour to the people in this place. While a happening town during Jesus’ time, this place is no bigger than 2 football field.
Crossing the Galilee sea was a very nice experience. Beside, soaking in all the memories we read about what Jesus did, I was treated to an experience of casting net too. I managed to catch 1 fish! Haah. Guide told us that it was great because most could not due to the engine of the boat. Jo encouraged me that because I was teachable, God would bless me with fruits or fish! What a blessing to have jo with me to speak such wise words to me! Felt that was indeed His encouragement.

Day 3
Before Jordon; St Peter’s Primacy and Cliff, Jordon River, Journey to Jerusalem
Instead of Tabgha, we went to St Peter’s Primacy. As I stared into the sea of Galilee, I heard someone singing the song with words of Jn21. Then I heard a preacher preaching behind me about the passage. When I walked to the status, I saw “Feed My Sheep”. It was likened to Jesus telling me 3 times that if I loved Him I should feed His sheep. I felt so moved within.
Yes Lord. I am determined to grow in loving You through serving Your people!
It was not a chance event that only Primacy’s was open at that hour. It was God’s place for me at His time.
Drove past the Cliff whereby traditionally believed to be the place whereby the swine rushed down when they were possessed by the demonic spirits.
Another bonus visit.
Reached Jordon river. Decided to go down the river for personal experience. But as I went through the experience, I suddenly was awakened to the fact that I shared Jesus’ experience in Jordon river too. It was definitely not a baptism experience for me. But I believe it was God’s provision for me to rededicate and reaffirm my baptismal commitment made 22yrs ago when I was 21. After Primacy (recommissioning) to Jordon (rededicating) I felt so blessed in this trip.
AS we entered Jerusalem, i was feeling excited. Finally, we were reaching the final place of the Jesus’ earthly ministry. When I saw the dome, I was feeling very mixed and yet hopeful. Mixed because it was occupied by the muslim, hopeful because God promised a new Jerusalem.

Day 4
Bethlehem, Shepherd’s field, Holy Sepulchre, Via Dolorosa, Upper Room
Saw the words – Fear builds walls and Friendship builds bridges on the Palestine area.
Appreciated the drawings as it was the way then to communicate the story of Jesus. Yet mindful of the possible idolatry practices involved.
When through most of the 14 stations. Could not feel much because of the deep religious practices.
But was sad that it had turned out to be such. Another place was Mt Zion – the Holy Mountain of God. It had become living quarters of muslim and others. Nothing really spiritual except the traditional sites for the Upper room and David’s burial site.

Day 5
Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, Dominus Flevit, Triumphant entrance, Garden of Gethsemane, Church of all nations
The place with the greatest impact for us was when we were at the dungeon reading Ps 84. Caught a glimpse of Jesus’ pain of isolation and disappointment.
Spent considerable time there pondering on the cross…I missed You Lord.

Day 6
Garden Tomb, Damascus Gates, Western wall, Southern Wall
God provided SUN on this place (rain for Gesthsemane) and for us an ordained minister to serve us Lord’s supper – Rev Lorna.
It was great to meet my uncle and auntie and Rev Lorna there. She was so kind to administer the elements to us.
We spent some time reflecting on the significance of the place. But finally I felt the greatest point of this place was to show that He was not here anymore!
At the southern wall, appreciated the other guide who told his group about the significant of the place ie Peter preached to 3000 and baptised them there. And the reference to Mt of Olive during Jesus’ ministry. Again God provided.

Day 7
Free and easy
Saw Zechariah’s tomb and the dial with all the places marked. Jerusalem was truly a place for bible study and understanding.
Home

Overall
Thankful to God for the trip, for the chance to share my life, for His provision throughout.
Personally felt recommissioned, rededicated and renewed to start His ministry.
Also during the last few days, the call to cancel the family trip was made because of H1N1. Was sad and worried about losing the money involved. God assured me with His reminder that He had provided. True enough, Korea Air refunded us in FULL.
Praise God for He is truly our Provider!

Schooling for the service of Love - reading 3

Educator B.V. Hill has suggested “teaching as reconciliation” as a way to approach the question of teaching Christianly.
- child in relation to society
- education of thinking and feeling
- educational decision making
The key issue standing in the way of reconciliation in schooling is the dominant value that is given to autonomous human mastery in contemporary schooling. Unless we address this issue anything else we do will be no more than a token gesture.

The secular values of mastery
The knowledge that is most valued in schooling is the knowledge that facilitate this autonomous mastery.
Knowledge as power for mastery is the priority value in schooling because mastery is the priority value in life.
They are admired because they symbolise that most important of human values in this world, the power of human mastery.
The idea of mastery in the value system of the modern secular world is an idolatrous distortion of the biblical calling to rule and subdue the earth. The biblical calling is a calling to a rule over creation in the service of love. The chief end of human life is loving God with all we are and have and our neighbour as ourselves.
In the biblical calling power is a trust to be exercised on behalf of another. This means that the power is used rightly only as it is used to advance the interests of love as revealed by the God who is love.

In the biblical calling all exercise of power is valued only as it serves the ends of love.
The idolatrous secular idea of mastery all too often prevents us from living out the words of Jesus;
- we overlook the simple fact that “mastery” is the equivalent of “lordship”.
- The dominance of the idea of mastery as an educational and life goal stands in the way of reconciliation because it represents life as a contest, a battle, to be won.
- I may have the most sincere desire for reconciliation but if the manner of my living is governed by a motivating principle that generates alienation (mastery/lordship) it will remain a frustrated desire.
- Abandoning mastery as a (ultimate) life value will transform the whole of our educational practice.
- We will want to assess how effectively these concepts and skills have been integrated in a wisdom that shows understanding and appreciation leading to responsible action.
- By rejecting mastery as a life value we refuse to recognise the power that comes with knowledge as having value in itself, but only as equipment for the service of love.
- The practice of competition has been distorted by the idolatrous idea of mastery.
(competition in itself may be neutral)
- The healthy ingredient in competition is the kind of rivalry in which the achievements of one spur others on to similar or even greater achievement.
- The secular ideal of mastery perverts this good thing by changing the direction of rivalry from the attainment of a common goal to the outdoing of the other person.
- A healthy rivalry is not directed towards winning against others who become losers, or also-rans, but towards achieving a common goal together.

Serving God in love
To be human is to shape and control our world.
The goal of human life we understand to be the service of God in love; Matt 20:28, 22:37-38.
Every attempt to exercise mastery that is divorced from this loving service is inevitably distorting in its effects.
What the school can do, and what it is uniquely fitted to do, is provide the knowledge base that will enable is students to develop a fullness of service in love. This will provide its students with invaluable preparation for life, regardless of the spiritual direction they take. It will bear its richest fruit in those students who go on to live their lives in a personal commitment to God by faith in Jesus Christ.
To achieve so; we need to recognise the 3 major goal for schooling;
Learning for understanding
Learning for appreciation
Learning for responsible action

Learning for understanding
One of the great failure of modern secular schooling is its failure to give serious attention to the questions of meaning that are given implicit answers in the ordering systems taught to students.
- meanings are taught as part of the hidden curriculum with the result that students adopt these meaning without critical testing.
Humans may find it important to find a higher meaning for life but this is an issue that is beyond the scope of science.
- the assumption of a science free of religious questions is itself a religious assumption.
- We must do this in a way that makes it plain that these are not questions external to science but are fundamental to an understanding of the nature of science itself.
- Christian schooling that aims for learning with understanding will not allow the questions of meaning that are implicit in every area of learning to remain part of a hidden curriculum or implicit, untested assumption.
Education for understanding also affects the choice of what to include in the school curriculum and what priority to give to what is included. We will surely not only include areas of learning but give them high priority if they enhance students’ understanding even if they contribute nothing to their ability to control the world.

Learning for appreciation
Much of the riches of creation that God has given to us to enjoy is passed by or despised as valueless, or of little value, because it does not advance the cause of human mastery.
We value it, not because of what we can do with it, but because of the riches of God’s gift to us.
We know we cannot serve God in the fullness of love if we fail to appreciate and enjoy in thankfulness the riches of his gifts to us – to lead our students to know this world with appreciation of its diverse riches so that they will be equipped to enjoy this world to the full in thankfulness to God (Ps 145,147,148, Act 14:14-17, 1Tim 4:25,6:17).
Students need to be led by teacher who directs attention to the wealth that is to be found in the experienced world.
The development of this breadth of appreciation is not be regarded as an extra – it is not a program of personal enrichment added to basic knowledge.

Learning for responsible action
We want students to develop a knowledge base that enables them to exercise a dominion over the world that controls their environment for good.
However the goal of acquiring this knowledge is responsible action, not autonomous mastery.
It is only by doing so that learning for mastery can be what it ought to be, learning for responsible action in the service of love.

What have I learnt over these few days?
As I pause and thank God for the life He has blessed me with, I am caught with the awareness of how times have flown by…I am now 43yrs old.

I joked that every birthday is another notch downwards to the end of the burning candle. We are closer to our ends….Jo reminded me that it was also closer to our new beginning in heaven.

What a difference in perspective!

Interestingly, I am also reminded that I should be heaven-focused - longing for heavenly home more than earthly habitat by Edmund.

Today, I went to CHC for their celebrity outreach service. I was blessed by the many changed lives among all the artistes and celebrities.

Yet within me, I asked if I had past my prime, my best years, my best contribution. Jokingly I reminded myself I could not sing nor dance like them. And it was within second, God reminded me that I had offered to the painful world, not through singing nor dancing, but through His enabling in my life. He “rewinded” the video of my life and showed me the times He used me to bless His people, teach His flock, challenge His leaders.

My place is not on the stage of this world! Nor politics! Nor business!

My place is in the house of God. I am and have been called to be His pastor, His shepherd, His servant.

Yes, I can lay down the approval of man, the applauds of the audience, the affirmation of the world. I can lay down the limelight, the media, the flashy world. Because my soul longs for the courts of the Lord…..I miss the time of godly contemplation, the time of repentance at the altar, the time of worship, the time of being with God…..for such is what I am made for.

God, I miss you Lord. I miss Your Intimacy, Your closeness, Your healing presence, Your convicting works, Your amazing grace…Lord I miss You.

Forgive me for choosing the broken cistern of the world instead of the beautiful fountain of life. Forgive me for giving in to worldly pleasure rather than heavenly joy.
Forgive me for giving up…..

Thank you Lord for not giving up…
Thank you Lord for still loving me…
Thank you Lord for grace still amazing…

By Your Grace, I will arise…..

Reading 3 : Stuart Fowler - schooling for the service of love

Educator B.V. Hill has suggested “teaching as reconciliation” as a way to approach the question of teaching Christianly.
- child in relation to society
- education of thinking and feeling
- educational decision making
The key issue standing in the way of reconciliation in schooling is the dominant value that is given to autonomous human mastery in contemporary schooling. Unless we address this issue anything else we do will be no more than a token gesture.

The secular values of mastery
The knowledge that is most valued in schooling is the knowledge that facilitate this autonomous mastery.
Knowledge as power for mastery is the priority value in schooling because mastery is the priority value in life.
They are admired because they symbolise that most important of human values in this world, the power of human mastery.
The idea of mastery in the value system of the modern secular world is an idolatrous distortion of the biblical calling to rule and subdue the earth. The biblical calling is a calling to a rule over creation in the service of love. The chief end of human life is loving God with all we are and have and our neighbour as ourselves.
In the biblical calling power is a trust to be exercised on behalf of another. This means that the power is used rightly only as it is used to advance the interests of love as revealed by the God who is love.
In the biblical calling all exercise of power is valued only as it serves the ends of love.
The idolatrous secular idea of mastery all too often prevents us from living out the words of Jesus;
we overlook the simple fact that “mastery” is the equivalent of “lordship”.
The dominance of the idea of mastery as an educational and life goal stands in the way of reconciliation because it represents life as a contest, a battle, to be won.
I may have the most sincere desire for reconciliation but if the manner of my living is governed by a motivating principle that generates alienation (mastery/lordship) it will remain a frustrated desire.
Abandoning mastery as a (ultimate) life value will transform the whole of our educational practice.
We will want to assess how effectively these concepts and skills have been integrated in a wisdom that shows understanding and appreciation leading to responsible action.
By rejecting mastery as a life value we refuse to recognise the power that comes with knowledge as having value in itself, but only as equipment for the service of love.
The practice of competition has been distorted by the idolatrous idea of mastery.
(competition in itself may be neutral)
The healthy ingredient in competition is the kind of rivalry in which the achievements of one spur others on to similar or even greater achievement.
The secular ideal of mastery perverts this good thing by changing the direction of rivalry from the attainment of a common goal to the outdoing of the other person.
A healthy rivalry is not directed towards winning against others who become losers, or also-rans, but towards achieving a common goal together.

Serving God in love
To be human is to shape and control our world.
The goal of human life we understand to be the service of God in love; Matt 20:28, 22:37-38.
Every attempt to exercise mastery that is divorced from this loving service is inevitably distorting in its effects.
What the school can do, and what it is uniquely fitted to do, is provide the knowledge base that will enable is students to develop a fullness of service in love. This will provide its students with invaluable preparation for life, regardless of the spiritual direction they take. It will bear its richest fruit in those students who go on to live their lives in a personal commitment to God by faith in Jesus Christ.
To achieve so; we need to recognise the 3 major goal for schooling;
Learning for understanding
Learning for appreciation
Learning for responsible action

A letter i can resonate with...

I am attaching a letter from a concerned Christian to the Archbishop of Anglican. I think the thoughts expressed are very important for us to contemplate. The question is not to act immediately but rather to know how then shall we live in the light of the situation. Hope you find your heart resonate just as it has for me.

Dear Most Revd. Dr John Chew,
I woke up this morning with a headache and bulging goldfish eyes. Not surprising because this alwayshappens when I cry a lot.Last night, after spending more than 10 hours witnessing the battle that went on in AWARE yesterday, I tooka cab home. I was finally alone, away from the maddening crowds in Suntec City. In solitude, I cried and tearscontinued to flow even after I got home at 1 am.

First, I cried for Josie Lau and her team. Whether I agree with the way they took over theleadership of AWARE, they were nevertheless my sisters-in-Christ. It was heart-wrenching to see how theywere attacked. They fought with their hands “tied” and with little support. The church was not behind themalthough it was the very set of beliefs the church taught them that they stood up for. In the meantime, the othercamp had a lot of support from various factions of the society including certain international lobby groups.

At the EGM, Josie Lau and her team tried to show Christian love to a crowd who hated them. They werejeered and booed. No one gave them a chance to speak, throwing allegations at their faith and attacking theircompetence. Josie and her team tried to be gracious but they were not appreciated. And when they raised theirvoices for some law and order, they were criticized for being rude and unchristian. It was a lose-lose situationfor Josie and her team. They had to live out a testimony of what it means to be a Christian and they were notallowed to use the same battle tactics as the opposing team who did not come to listen to reasons nor facts.

For the first time in my life, I witnessed a “massacre” of Christians. Also for the first time, I felt it was a crimeto be a Christian. I suddenly understood how Jesus felt when he was on His way to Calvary.


Second, I cried for all Christians and for the Church in Singapore. I disagree with many church leaders' stand that Christians should not get involved in a secular organisation like AWARE.

Aren't the organisations we work for, the schools we attend secular? We cannot hold leadership just becauseour faith and beliefs belong to that of Christ? And if my Christian beliefs form the very core of who I am, whyare you asking me not to exercise them in the world I live in? How relevant then is my faith if I am asked tokeep them within the four walls of the church? And we wonder why our young people abandon the faith oncethey leave school. We haven’t figured out?

If Christians are not allowed to be involved in AWARE, who can? And since most organisations are secular,should we stay out from all of them? If not, then which secular organisations can Christians be involved inand which ones should we stay out from?

Being a Christian and holding leadership position in a secular organisation like AWARE does not mean that itwill be turned into a Christian advocacy group. Josie and her team said many times that they intended for AWARE to be fully represented but nobody wanted to listen. Why? Because the other group wants thefreedom to do anything and everything they desire, in the name of inclusiveness. They know that many oftheir beliefs and lifestyles run contrary to the teachings of Christianity. They are afraid.

Do you know what it means now that AWARE's leadership has gone to the liberalists, the secularists? Theynow have to be pro-choice. They owe it to certain activist groups for supporting them. Being pro-choicemeans they are for pre-marital sex, abortion, divorce, same-sex marriage just to name a few. Yesterday, amandate was given to them to advocate their set of beliefs.

A recognised legal body that claims to represent all women, they can go into schools, homes, institutions andeverywhere in Singapore to propagate their beliefs. In a democratic society, it means that they have the legalstatus to "infiltrate" especially now that everyone is aware that they have been "democratically" voted.2Although I am certain that the government will keep an eye on this group, it means Christians can no longerhide under the umbrella of a conservative government who is under a lot of pressure to open up. We are nowleft to fend for ourselves. A male nominated member of parliament was at the EGM yesterday. Although itwas quoted that he was there as a legal adviser to the old guards, why did he bother to get involved?

Arising from this saga, what do you think is the message to all Christians? It is to "stay away from all secularorganisations and keep your faith to yourself. Christians have no business propagating their faith". From now on, just saying that you are a Christian will immediately bring to mind the AWARE saga and just like how wesaw the liberalists toppled Josie and her team, we will be told to shut up because we are Christians and wehave no part in controversial decisions in any secular organisations we work for.

It just makes living out your faith and evangelising for Christ, a key command from God, even harder fromnow on. And unless Christians speak up and make a stand, we will be drowned and stepped all over.

As much as I understand most Churches’ position for not wanting to get involved in the AWARE saga for fearthat it would taint the reputation of Christianity or that it would tread into the realm of political controversy, Iwish our spiritual leaders have stood up in unity and spoke against some of the activities, for example, the sexuality programme used by the old guards to teach our children in the schools. By steering clear completely,it is indirectly saying that we are fine even with what they were propagating.

In my humble opinion, we have lost more battle grounds in yesterday’s saga. Perhaps we would have lostanyway but could we have lost less? We could even show our young what it means to live for Christ in afallen world through some practical actions. But did we?

Third, I cried for Singapore. The government has just allowed a powerful group to set Singapore'sagenda and this group will make their voices heard in the next election and perhaps even overturn some of our conservative laws.

To our politicians, I seek clarification on the definition of religion and secularism and how do both of theseco-exist in multi-religious Singapore. Can you actually separate one’s religious values from its expression inthe public sphere in matters that concern an individual?

How does one define religion anyway? They have relentlessly said that religion is very sensitive and canpotentially divide our nation. But can a set of beliefs, regardless of where they are derived, fervently held andwhich governs one’s life be a religion? I think so. Yesterday, I saw many people who embrace liberalismturning up in force at Suntec City in support of their beliefs. They were so united and single-minded in whatthey were fighting for. To me, some of them even seemed to be fighting for their right to live. To me, that wasreligion.

In that case, the AWARE’s saga was a fight between two religions. And in all battles, one won and one lost.We lost.

Every country in the world has to be governed by some philosophy and beliefs. Politicians subscribe to certainthinking and values and laws are formulated or amended on those values. Some sorts of beliefs have to takeprecedent over others. Going forward, what is Singapore’s? Secular? Define it.

Singapore wants to be pluralistic and accommodate everyone from all walks of life and from all over theworld in our tiny island. And they want us to live happily together. But can it? Let us not forget thatgeographically, Singapore is very small. Unlike the United States or even Malaysia where I can choose to livein Texas if I don’t like the openness in California or Kelantan instead of Kuala Lumpur if I like to raise myfamily in a more conservative state respectively, I cannot do that in Singapore. And since I like my space,would I be given a choice to reject the society’s dominant values that others determine for me and for which Imay choose not to embrace?3

Finally, I cried for our children. We all try to raise our children to become God-fearing men andwomen who can be salt and light of this world. Some of us even quit our full-time jobs to stay home so thatwe can teach our children God’s ways. To protect our children in today’s internet age, we fight off the newmedia which try to influence our children. Yesterday, I tried to fight off sexuality teachings that ran contraryto God’s words. And tomorrow, I will be fighting off gamblers, drug couriers, prostitutes and gangs. Honestly,I don’t know what kind of environment or the degree of influence and temptations our children would befaced with when they grow up and when they start raising their own children. How can we make it easier forthem to live out their faith? Or are we just making it tougher?

As Christians participating in God’s agenda and battle, what are we lacking? Practical tools. Our churcheshave done a good job teaching us the biblical truth and the word of God. Most of our children have thisknowledge in their heads. However, equipping them with knowledge alone is insufficient. We need todemonstrate to our children how to apply God’s truths, how to stand up for them and if need be, fight for thesetruths.

In short, we need to show them what it means to stand up and be counted for God in a secular world, i.e. to bein this world but not of it. We had an opportunity yesterday but we missed it.

In conclusion, I would like to state some facts that won’t be carried in our mainstream media. I wouldalso like to put forth some questions for all Christians to ponder. First and foremost, who decided to usereligion and set it as an agenda in the AWARE saga?

Constitutionally, Josie and her team were above board. They were elected during the AGM a month ago totake over the leadership. Like any organisation with a constitution, it was based on votes and they won onvotes. Neither was the takeover sneaky. Those of us who have worked in secular organisations, and AWAREis a secular organisation, know that takeovers are never friendly. When was religion ever an issue in anysecular organisational takeover?

Our mainstream media, though they tried to be objective, was unfortunately not. From the start, they alreadyknew which side they wanted to support. Why was the coverage on the event so skewed towards the winningparty? Why carry so much of the winning party’s voice and why interview so many of their supporters? I didnot see them going around just as excitedly in seeking the opinions of Josie’s supporters yesterday.

When Dr Thio was asked by MOE to validate and substantiate her statements on Tuesday, my PR team foughtagainst time to issue a statement to the press only to be told that they don’t intend to carry her side of the story.

When Josie and her team wanted to send the media their vision and philosophy that they have crafted forAWARE, the media told them that they are not interested.

Why run the churches’ stories two days and eventhe eve of the EGM?

Are we aware that the AWARE story was the number one world story in twitters? The other camp was madeup of generally young people who are savvy with social media and they leveraged on those tools. Ninety-ninepercent of those on twitters were dead against Josie and her team.

Are we also aware that they have set up hate websites to hit out at Christians and all on Josie’s team? We allknow that Josie received death threats. Do we also know that everyone on that team had letters or calls writtento their employers asking their employers to justify their presence in the organisations? Why is it that no onespoke up about such tactics?

Further, how aware are we that the other group’s supporters comprised mainly of relatively young people?These are going to be our children’s leaders or counterparts. Josie’s camp was made up of middle aged menand women who did not dress, behave or even speak the same “language” as our young today.

What happenedto our young Christian people? Shouldn’t they be interested in what is happening?

And what about the facts regarding the sexuality programme? Are they true? For those who are unsure andwould like to know what’s been propagated, I have a copy and would be happy to lend it to you for yourpersonal reading. It contains the selected controversial pages and we can all judge for ourselves if we wantthis material taught to our children.

For me, this AWARE saga was a chance to practise and learn to stand up for Christ. Regardless of whichangle you choose to see this event, it was obvious that our faith was attacked. I am very thankful for thisopportunity and to be reminded that we are living in the last days. Come to think of it, I played a very smallrole in this whole episode. I liken myself to the soldier guarding the armoury while my comrades went out tofight. The sad thing was my armoury was filled with pistols while my foes were using machine guns. It wasvery painful to have to witness my comrades’ getting injured and knowing that there is nothing I can do aboutit. But one thing I know – God is still in charge and He is sovereign. He will bring to pass what He revealed inRevelations.

But it also means that Christians have to be ready to stand up and fight for our faith. Otherwise we would be useless in God’s army because He cannot use us. To be ready and useful, we must start to learn what it meansto be steadfast and to live out our faith. Speaking up in defence of our beliefs is a start.

In-His-Love, XXX

Summary of MI and teaching strategies by Thomas A.

Reading 8 – Thomas Armstrong, 1994, Multiple intelligences in the classroom (pp 65-85)
MI and Teaching Strategies


“If the only tool you have is hammer, everything around you looks like a nail.” – Anonymous


MI theory suggests that one set of teaching strategies will work best for all students at all times.


Teaching strategies for Linguistic Intelligence
- Storytelling
Weave essential concepts, ideas and instructional goals into a story that you tell directly to students.
- Brainstorming
Give special acknowledgement to all students for their original thoughts.
- Tape recording
Collector of information in interview and reporter of information in talking books
- Journal writing
Can be kept entirely private between teachers and students…
Draws heavily upon intrapersonal intelligence insofar as students work individually and use the journal to reflect upon their lives.
- Publishing
Educator must send the message that writing is a powerful tool for communicating ideas and influencing people.
When children see that others care enough about their writing to duplicate it, discuss it, and even argue about it, they become linguistically empowered and are motivated to continue developing their writing craft.


Teaching strategies for Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
- Calculations and quantifications
Even at non-Math subject
- Classifications and categorizations
Logical mind can be stimulated anytime information is put into some kind of rational framework
- Socratic Questioning
Instead of talking at students, the teacher participates in dialogues with them, aiming to uncover the rightness and wrongness of their belief
- Heuristics
The field of heuristics refers to a loose collection of strategies, rules of thumb, guidelines, and suggestions for logical problem solving
- Science Thinking
Students can study influence of science on history and present day situations.
Science provides another point of view that can enrich student’s perspective.
Teaching strategies for Spatial Intelligence
- Visualisation
- Colour Cues
- Picture Metaphors
A metaphor is using one idea to refer to another and a picture metaphor expresses an idea in a visual image.
- Idea Sketching
Involve asking students to draw key point, main idea, central theme, or core concept being taught. Neatness and realism should be DE-emphasised in favour of a succession of quick sketches that help articulate an idea eg Pictionary
Do not evaluate the drawing themselves; instead, seek to “draw out” students’ understanding from the sketches.
- Graphic Symbols


Teaching strategies for Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
- Body Answers
- Classroom Theater
Can be one minute improvisation of a reading passage or a one-hour play that sums up students’ understanding of a broad learning theme.
Try warm up exercises for older students who maybe reluctant to engage in dramatic activities.
- Kinesthetic Concepts
Translate information from linguistic or logical symbol systems into purely bodily-kinesthetic expression
- Hands-on Thinking
Manipulating objects or by making things with their hands.
- Body Maps
Using human body as pedagogical tool.


Teaching strategies for Musical Intelligence
- Rhythms, songs, raps and chants

Inviting students to create songs, raps, or chants that summarise, synthesize, or apply meaning from subjects they are studying moves students to an even higher level of learning.
- Discographies
Supplement your bibliographies for the curriculum with lists of recorded musical selections – tapes, compact discs, and records, - that illustrate, embody, or amplify the content you want to convey.
- Supermemory Music
Students could more easily commit information, to memory if they listened to the teacher’s instruction against musical background. Baroque and classical musical selections in 4/4 time were found to be particularly effective.
- Music Concepts
Musical tones can be used as a creative tool for expressing concepts, patterns, or schemas in many subjects.
- Mood Music
Locate recorded music that creates an appropriate mood or emotional atmosphere for a particular lesson or unit.


Teaching strategies for Interpersonal Intelligence
- Peer sharing
- People Sculptures
The beauty of this approach is in having people represent things that were formerly represented only in books, overheads, or lectures. People sculptures raise learning out of its remote theoretical context and put it into an immediately accessible social setting.
- Cooperative Groups
- Simulations
Involves a group of people coming together to create an “as-if” environment.


Teaching strategies for Intrapersonal Intelligence
- One minute reflection period
Frequent “time out” for introspection or deep thinking. One min reflection periods offer students time to digest the information presented or to connect it to happenings in their own lives. They also provide a refreshing change of pace that helps students stay alert and ready for the next activity.
- Personal connection
Making connection between what is being taught and the lives of their students ie “what does all this have to do with my life?”
- Choice time
Give students choices is as much a fundamental principle of good teaching; building opportunities for students to make decisions about their learning experiences.
- Feeling-toned moments
To feed that emotional brain, educators need to teach with feeling. Educators are responsible for creating moments in teaching where students laugh, feel angry, express strong opinion, get excited about a topic, or feel a wide range of other emotions.
Educator can model, make it safe and provide experiences that evoke feeling-toned reactions.
- Goal setting session
Necessary skills for leading a successful life.

Reflection on AWARE saga as a Singaporean

I have mixed feeling about the whole AWARE saga. I risked being labeled and misunderstood to pen my reflection. But i will do so because i love Singapore.

As a Singaporean, i am saddened by the display of mob behavior at the SUNTEC EGM. Granted there were pent-up emotion and feeling for "justice" to be served. But the scene of booing and shouting is definitely not the society i am proud of.I am neither for any groups in particular. i think both groups can definitely learn from the whole experience.

Another thought i have is concerning RESPECT. i dont agree that RESPECT needs to be earned. RESPECT is a basic atitude we should have in dealing with ALL of humanity. We RESPECT not because someone has done something worthwhile for us to RESPECT. Because going by this arguement, many people would not need to be respected ie beggar, HIV patients, etc. Whoever started the saying, "Respect needs to be earned", could have misused the word. I would think "Recognition needs to be earned" because recognition is given to people who earned it but not RESPECT. We RESPECT others simply because we are HUMAN. RESPECTING others need not the reflection of the other person's worth or standing.

Thus, in conclusion, we all have lost. We have lost our RESPECT for our fellow country-women, we have lost our sense of civil-mindness, we have lost our ways.....Ironically for the purpose of finding the Singapore society.

Crossroads - how to make decision?

I have been thinking about how we can know the will of God for our lives. It has become quite obvious that there has not been much training in this area.
Many have been very satisfied to teach and challenge the members to live by the general will of God. This has resulted in many feeling that the church is not interested in their development or worst irrelevant to their lives.
This is not so in the times of NT. Paul prayed for the Colossians that they might know God’s specific will for their lives.

Col 1: 9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Few obvious worthy of highlighting;
- We need to know His will WITH wisdom and understanding lest we become rash and tactless (lack of wisdom) in our walk.
- Life worthy of the Lord and please Him MUST be founded on His WILL.
- We would be able to bear fruits, grow in His knowledge, strengthen with all power, have great endurance and patience, give thanks and share in His inheritance.
Such is the blessing of walking in His will.

Now the question is how can I know His will?
I chanced upon Discipleship Journal and found this very interesting guide.
There are 5 systems whereby we need to check to confirm or discern His will for our lives.

1 The bible
The bible will give us general guidance on His will and ways to show us. We will know the character of voice to confirm His leading.

2 Our unique gifts and talents – our design
Our giftings and talents are from God to lead us to His end for our lives. Thus they are good indicators of where He is leading in our lives.

3 Our Circumstances
Open doors are not necessary signs to proceed or closed doors as signs to stop. We need to ask God to reveal His purpose in these circumstances.
Remember that the devil is at works too.

4 Direct leading
Specific events or confirmation must also be checked with scripture and godly counsel.

5 Input from others
We are created in community and we need to know what the community is saying to us too.

These are not new insights for many of us. But the key difference I learnt here is that we can be more certain when all 5 systems lead to the same conclusion. And anything less would call for more waiting and weighing.

I am very blessed with this information. But I would like to see if I can develop this further so that I can be a blessing for others who are at the crossroads of their lives.

My study - How theology in Galatians can contribute to Education

Living in this performance-centric society, it is very difficult to discern the subtle influence of “works” in our walk with God. Yet through the signs of many stressed out believers, tired out pastors, and unhealthy pursuit of outward conformity to the “culture” of western Christianity such as robes, church tradition, birthday blessings, and many other subtle influences, we can conclude the yoke of “distorted gospel” is at work among us. This is where the book of Galatians can help us to examine where we have fallen and how the theology highlighted earlier could help us in staying true to the “true gospel” (pun intended).

Being a pastor and leader of an education institution before, it is of particular interest to me to look at Christian Teachers Training and Development. Having the book of Galatians and the course study guide as my reference, we would explore 2 specific areas of applications – the development of teachers and the delivery of lesson. The theology discussed earlier, specifically “Union with Christ” and “Role of Holy Spirit”, will be used in this consideration.

1 Development of Teachers - Need for spiritual training for our Christian teachers
Good teaching comes from good teachers. And good teachers are good because they are good people (Palmer, 1998, p. 10). Skills alone cannot make an eternal impact in the lives of our students. It is the life in Christ that makes the teachers good (Mk 10:18). Thus, only in Christ, can the teachers become good teachers. Also it is only in Christ that Christian Teachers can live out the “cruciform life” (Gorman, 2001, p. 30). The question is who is responsible for the spiritual development of the teachers. We cannot assume that this will be taught in churches. Churches, for most part, will be focusing mainly on the general needs of the congregations. They will not be able to focus on the specific needs of any occupation. Beside, it may not have the resources to do so too. Hence, Christian Schools and Christian Teachers College must consider the spiritual development of Christian Teachers just as they do for other subject matters.

Just like the Galatians, it is very easy for the Christian Teachers to feel that “grace and good teaching performance = acceptance and approval from God” in this performance centric society. The “and …” is what causes the confusion in the Galatians church; adding anything to grace is in fact nullifies grace. For the Galatians, it is circumcision, while for the Christian Teachers, it will be ability to produce students with good grades in this performance centric society. This has caused many Christian Teachers, in Singapore, to feel discouraged with their sense of calling. On one hand, they feel the call to teach, and on the other, they feel the pressure to perform. As a result, we are seeing many resignations among the Christian Teachers or they become indifferent. Such disillusion in teachers can be minimized if the Christian Schools and Christian Teachers College make effort to educate and tutor the Christian Teachers to understand the privilege of being “in Christ”.

We are warmly received into the Kingdom of God because of grace and grace alone. It is the result of the gospel event. There is nothing we can do or add to gain acceptance and approval from God. Christ has done it all for me. It is in Christ that Christian Teachers receive the acceptance and approval from God. And this acceptance with God will allow the merits and perfection of Christ to be applied to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Goldsworthy, 1991, p. 220).

Such truth needs to be experienced by Christian Teachers regularly so as to keep their motivation in service pure - they serve diligently not because they need that to be accepted but because they are already accepted in Christ. In this way we would have lesser disillusion teachers.

One way to do so is to schedule regular retreat for Christian Teachers to remember the gospel event. It is in the act of remembrance that allows God to illuminate their mind to this truth with freshness. This “remember” retreat approach is in much agreement with what the Bible advocates too (Heschel, 1951, p. 161). Christian Schools and Christian Teachers College can also tap into the wider Christian Community such as Christian Seminaries and Christian Churches for renowned teachers in this subject matter to come and lead the retreat. In this way we will have provided a good experience for the teachers as well as helped the larger community to be mindful of the needs of the Christian Teachers.

2 Classroom teaching - Need for relying on the Holy Spirit
The book of Galatians emphasizes a lot on being dependent on the Holy Spirit. Paul emphasizes such reliance when he exalts the Galatians to receive the Spirit (3:2), begin with the Spirit (3:3), be in the Spirit (4:6), through the Spirit (5:5), walk by the Spirit (5:16, 25), be led by the Spirit (5:18) and live by the Spirit (5:25). All these reflect the great need to be relying on the Holy Spirit in our daily walk. This reliance should apply to the classrooms for the Christian Teachers too. Many teachers are tempted to rely more on the lesson plan than the spontaneous guidance of the Spirit.

But the role of Holy Spirit is more than the exercising of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It should include both the gifts as well as the fruit of the Spirit (5:22) in the lives of the teachers. This does not imply that lesson preparation is not important. It does, however, imply that dependence on the Holy Spirit should start from the point of lesson preparation. Students are not drawn to the smartness of the teachers alone. They are looking for models who can relate and inspire them. Spirit-filled teacher will certainly be attractive teachers to the students because they would be reflecting Christ in the class through personalifying the fruit of the Spirit and exercising the gifts of the Spirit. Such teachers would be awesome.

During classroom management, students do not need to face the raw emotion of a frustrated teacher. Instead they would be managed by one who can control his emotion with a tone of spirituality. During correction, students will receive correction which reveals their weakness and yet heals their pain. During lesson time, students will be amazed by the Spirit-led lesson plan presented with the gifts of the Spirit. This is made possible because the Lord has given us His Spirit through faith (3:2).

Living out this reliance on the Holy Spirit, among the Christian Teachers, needs to be nurtured in the whole school. As in developing any habit, teachers need community to encourage the development of this intentional reliance on the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 2:2). Clustering Spirit-filled teachers with younger (in faith) teachers together will help modeling this practice as well as imparting practical ways to live out this Spirit-filled lifestyle. This will certainly help to transform the class into a Spirit-filled room for learning.

A Good Read; both as a book review and understanding of NCC

I chanced upon this interesting article recently. i felt it was a rather fair and objective outsider's view of the book and NCC. I am putting this up in this blog to remind myself how to evaluate with a right posture and tone; i really appreciate the way Rev Dr Wong writes.

BOOK REVIEW – Joseph Prince’s Destined to Reign
Reviewed by Rev Dr Gordon Wong

"I recently read the book Destined to Reign (2007) by Joseph Prince, the senior pastor of New Creation Church. When I conveyed some of my thoughts on the book, one of my pastoral colleagues thought it would be helpful if I shared them with more Methodists.

Let me begin by saying that Pastor Prince’s emphasis on grace has been a great blessing from God to many. My nephew and cousin belong to New Creation church and have grown immensely in their relationship with God. My prayer is that God will use Prince’s gifts of preaching to even more blessed effect as he allows the Holy Spirit to convict him (graciously, as always) of areas that could be improved. I hope my comments below will be helpful towards that end.

1. Prince’s teaching on God’s Grace and Anger
His emphasis on grace has led some to accuse him of giving Christians a licence to sin. He vehemently rejects this criticism (e.g. p. 30) and explains that a person who has properly experienced grace is one who is inspired and empowered to turn away from sin.

What I like:
the book’s stress on the power of God’s grace is correct. The grace of God in the Bible is meant to inspire holiness, and not allow sinfulness. The book’s strong emphasis on grace is true to the Bible. Self-condemnation and guilt are real problems that afflict many people today, and the message of God’s grace is truly good news.

What I had reservations about:
In stressing grace, the book appears to suggest that God no longer gets angry with Christians. If this is what it really means to teach, then this is not biblical. On p. 41, read: “We do see God being angry in the Old Testament, and in the book of Revelation, where his anger is toward those who have rejected Jesus. But for you and me, believers in the new covenant, we are not part of the Old Testament and we will never be punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is no longer angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross.”I suspect (and hope) that what the book really means is that God’s anger is not the type that takes delight in condemning us and pointing out how horrible we are. Also, I think (and hope) that what the book means to say is that God’s anger and punishment on believers does not result in the loss of eternal salvation. But to say the above is very different from saying that God gets angry only with unbelievers and never with true believers (p. 41), or to insist that “the Holy Spirit never convicts you of sin” (p.134). Does the Bible really say that God never gets angry with believers anymore? In the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), God is presented as getting angry with believers. For example, the letters to the 7 churches (i.e. people who profess to be believers) in Revelation 2-3 include a lot of stinging rebuke and condemnation from Jesus himself, including the use of threats of punishment and judgement. (I find attempts to say that the “churches” in Revelation do not really refer to believers as far-fetched.) God Himself seems to punish two professing believers Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. Isn’t this an example of the Holy Spirit, through Peter, convicting Ananias and Sapphira of their sins? Or must we assume the (not so gracious) judgement that Ananias and Sapphira cannot have been true believers?? For argument’s sake, even if they were not true believers, they were certainly in the church assembly. So there is place still for Spirit-inspired preaching for the conviction of sin within church walls. There may be many “believers” like Ananias and Sapphira who need the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and our need for grace. Perhaps the book could have made a clearer distinction between divine anger at Christians that results in the loss of eternal salvation (which is what he is most concerned to speak against) and divine anger at Christians that aims to correct and discipline (which he seems to reject).

To be fair, Prince does accept the positive idea of child discipline or training (pp. 65-67), but he rejects any association of this discipline with the words “anger” or “punishment”.God’s anger was, and can still be an expression of His love and grace, just like a loving mother who sometimes scolds her child. (Prince is, hopefully, only joking when he implies, p.37, that children will become schizophrenic if parents sometimes express happiness and at other times anger!) To say that God will never get angry or punish believers anymore may promote (unwittingly or mistakenly) a distortion of the Bible’s teaching about God’s grace.

God’s anger is an expression of His love and grace towards his children. Prince would perhaps do better to speak of righteous anger (Ephesians 4:26) versus unrighteous anger. God never gets (unrighteously) angry with us, but loving grace demands a place for righteous anger as long as His beloved children still need discipline.


2. Prince’s teaching on Law

The book is very strong on rejecting the value of the Law in the OT as being of any positive help for Christians. For example, on p.120 there is a section entitled “The Ten Commandments Kill” and it says that these commandments are “the ministry of death”.

What I like:
I think (and hope) that the book is trying to say two biblical things about the Law.
Firstly, it may be warning us that the Ten Commandments can be used or preached in a condemning way that destroys the soul of people and makes them cringe in fear or turn away from God as a harsh Master. This is a good biblical warning.
Secondly, the book’s description of the Law as a ministry of death rather than life correctly describes and reinforces the biblical view that obedience to the Law cannot lead us to receive salvation. It is correct and very good of Prince to speak against those who are “trying to use the Ten Commandments to remove their sins” (p.124). We are saved by grace, not by obedience to the Ten Commandments or the Law. If these two points represent what Prince teaches on the Law in the Bible, then this is good and biblical.

What I had reservations about:
That the Law can be preached and understood in such a way as to promote soul-destroying guilt and deeper condemnation is certainly true. Prince is to be commended for eloquently highlighting this biblical warning about the danger of the Law, and stressing the wonderful grace of God that forgives us all through Christ. But while there are many who need this message of God’s grace-filled forgiveness to save them from their guilt and despair over sin, there are many others who need the message of God’s grace-filled discipline and rebuke to save them from presumption and indifference to sin. Prince’s emphasis on free and full forgiveness is very good at helping the former, but not so good for the latter. Does Prince believe that guilt is the only problem people have because of sin? If so, that would present an incomplete picture. Sin does not only imprison us in guilt; it also lulls us into indifference and presumption. The Bible addresses both these effects of sin. The book appears to suggest that there is no way of preaching the Law in a graceful manner in order to set us free from our sinful indifference and presumption.

Similarly, Prince is correct to stress that the Law cannot save or justify, but his writings give the impression that the Law has no other positive function except to prove that we cannot be saved by it. But the Law in the Bible is also presented as a positive expression of God’s grace in telling us what God desires. But because Prince contrasts Law and Grace in this manner, he gives the impression of implying that the Law has only the negative value of telling people that they cannot be saved by their attempts at obedience to the Law. The Law certainly does perform that valuable function, but it does much more as well. It helps us know what is good in God’s eyes. The book is weak on emphasising the ongoing value of the Law for both Christians and unbelievers.

To be fair to this book, there are certain parts of the Bible that also speak in similarly strong negative tones against the Law (e.g. most of Galatians and parts of the books of Romans and Hebrews). But this negative view is balanced out in other parts of the Bible that are very positive about the Law (e.g. Jesus in Matt 5:19-20; James 1:25; Psalm 119 etc.). In other words, the Law as a means of salvation is spoken of very negatively in the Bible, but the Law as a means of showing us God’s pleasure or desire for our lives is spoken of very positively. The book seems to emphasise only the negative picture of the Law. Doing so would fail to do justice to the biblical balance which speaks also of the ongoing positive value of the Law for Christians. Paul, himself, could sum up the Law very positively as teaching us to love one another (Gal 5:14; Rom 13:8,10).

3. Prince’s teaching on Healing

Healing is a big topic in the Bible, and it is not the main theme of Prince’s book.
But from the little he says in his final full chapter “Good Things Happen” (pp. 287ff), Prince relates testimonies of people who were healed when they received the grace and forgiveness of God. He also states that “once you know that you have been forgiven of all your sins, past, present and future, the healing of all our diseases follows” (p.290).

What I like:
I think Prince is correct to say that the Bible speaks of a God who heals our diseases, and this is a true expression of the forgiveness and grace of God. Physical healing is taught and prayed for and experienced in the Bible.

What I had reservations about:
Whilst the book speaks of Bible passages where physical healing is expected and takes place, it says nothing about the passages that accept (without surprise or anguish) that miraculous physical healing did not take place e.g. 2 Tim 4:20; Philippians 2:25-27; 1 Tim 5:23; Gal 4:13-14. Incidentally, Galatians 4:13-14 tells us explicitly that Paul did have a bodily sickness which resulted in the greater good of the Gospel being preached contra Prince’s statement that “Paul did not suffer any sickness or disease” (p. 71). The problem is not so much with what Prince affirms viz. that healing is a blessing from a God who is full of grace; the problem is with what he omits to affirm viz. that physical illness without healing on earth can also fall within the gracious providence of God. The Bible teaches us both to pray for physical healing and to be prepared to endure illness with patient endurance. The victorious Christian life is one that remains faithful to God in both times of abundance and poverty, in sickness or in health, for richer or for poorer (cf. Philippians 4:12-13). I do not know the ministry of Prince well enough to be sure of what he really thinks about healing on earth. Perhaps if you listen long enough to his sermons, you may be able to make a fairer assessment. Does he preach to help Christians cope with the onslaught of poverty and illness, or does he speak only of removing sickness and suffering by effortless faith? We need both messages, because that is the balance we find in Scripture.

In general, most preachers are prone to partial teaching. We all tend to favour one side of the balance more than the other as a result of our personal experience of God’s dealings with us. The danger comes when we imply that the side we prefer is the only true side of biblical truth!

May God grant us wisdom and discernment as we seek to live in ways that befit those who have been saved by such a wonderful grace as that which our Lord Jesus has lavished on us.

Postscript: There are several places where I do not agree with Prince’s interpretation of the Bible verses (e.g. pp. 124f on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; p.263-65 on the cold, hot and lukewarm Laodiceans in Rev 3:15-16), but these are disagreements over the interpretation of specific phrases that can commonly be found amongst devout Bible teachers. My comments above focus on some major issues that discerning Christians should reflect on more carefully."

Gospel of the 5th Sparrow

I was told of an illustration which blessed my heart greatly.

There was a boy who came to church and asked to be baptised.
The pastor interviewed him about the conversion story to make sure that the boy knew what he was about to do.
“I am the 5th sparrow!” said the boy.
“What?” exclaimed the pastor. He was puzzled by the boy’s answer as it was not a usual answer.
“Jesus assured me that I would not be forgotten even though I maybe poor and without a home” explained the boy.
He went on and described his daily job, “I catch and sell sparrows in the street. 2 sparrows for a penny and 5 for 2pennies.”
“I will give the weakest and smallest sparrow as the free sparrow” explained the boy.
“So how do you know about God and His love for you?” the pastor interrupted.

The boy explained his learning from the previous sermon he heard.
“You mentioned that in God’s word, He knew about the sparrows and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from His will.”
“And even for the 5th sparrow, it will not be forgotten by God.”
Matthew 10:29 (New International Version)
29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
Luke 12:6 (New International Version)
6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
“I am surprised that He knows about my trade and He values even the discarded free 5th sparrow.”
“I want to follow Him” affirmed the boy.

With tears in his eyes, the pastor placed his hand on the head of the boy and said, “Yes, He know all of us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Even if we are the 5th sparrow.”

Amen.

pastoral musing

Resisting Activitism
Living in busy Singapore makes us feel like busyness is a badge of usefulness and even spirituality. Busy pastors are normal in many places. Busy in meetings, projects, teaching, strategising, etc. Meaningful busyness as some would say it.

But Eugene Peterson pulled no punches when he stated that "busyness is a sin!".

Busyness, through good church activities, can rob us of worship.
We can be so busy serving Him and missed relating to Him.
We can be so busy doing church and missed recognising His call.
We can be so busy solving problems and missed relying on His Spirit.

We need to stamp the tide of cultural influence and re-evaluate how we live our lives.
We need to question our need to be busy.
We need to ask soul searching questions on “where is God in our work”.
(if our work is to be truly our act of worship, God must be central and key!)
We need to make time to reflect or we will only be pushed to do what we have been scheduled to do.

Pauses in the day, breaks in the week, retreats in a year are all essential space of time we owe to God and ourselves to live life intentionally for worship.

Otherwise, we could complete our time on earth and realise that we have worshipped the church more than Christ!

pastoral musing

Learning on submission and its related issues
1 Definition of submission – voluntary obedience in love
2 Control – good or bad? denial of rights or pay for the consequence?
3 Discipline – is more than punishment. It is training for maturity
4 Can a husband expect submission? Yes but not good; God loves us but did not control us into submission. Submission is our choice. Choice brings consequences.
5 Failure to submit will bring forth the consequence and the person involved must be prepared for it. Blaming the consequence is not being conscious that it is a direct result of his choice.
6 Can a leader “control” the behaviour of his members by setting the boundary of freedom? Beyond which there will be “disciplinary” action?
7 The key issue is in the spirit of the so called “control” and “accountability”. If the spirit is punitive, the effects on people is more than the intention of building but tearing. Shepherd needs to be mindful of our representation of God to followers. God disciplines us when we choose not to submit to His word and will. But His love for us is not dependent on our obedience or submission; our ability to recognise or be deceived is clouded by our sin. Yet Grace is there to bring us back. God’s way is prompting us, lovingly, to obedience and not controlled obedience, dictated obedience. Key is really in the posture.
8 On the side of the leader
- be mindful how we implement the teaching of “submission” and “accountability”. It is not how but what is the spirit within us when we do so.
- allow grace to guide our posture in dealing with our followers
9 On the side of the followers
- listen to contrary advice with a teachable heart; ask ourselves why we are not open to this advice
- test our own spirit ie are we being rebellious
- consult godly advice
- be willing to submit, not just to man, to Godly advice.
- be prepared to humble all the way including facing the consequence of your choice.
10 I am still musing on this subject…hahaha….

Personal update

Attended church at Trinity.
It was a nice feeling because I was from Trinity back in the 80s. I remembered attending church at World Trade Centre and prayer meeting at Adam Road. I went to church alone for more than a year without knowing anyone there. But I felt God and His truth there for my learning.
Then my BS leader asked me to change to a more conservative church because of the charismatic issues. So I did. I went to Grace Baptist Church in 1985.
And it was not long when Lawrence Khong, then SP of GBC, was asked to leave. I followed the rest to FCBC in Aug 1986.

And now, visiting TCC, brought back much fond memories with God and the simple church life.
The message today was about the Prosperity God wants for us ie Your Adverity will be His opportunity, Your Confession will be His permission, Your emptiness will be His readiness.
It was a good reminder to thirst and hunger for His fullness in our lives.

I am glad to see this church growing well in members and ministry.

Reflection on Leadership

Leadership Paradox
- The siren call of stardom (pp 37-50)

1 Philip Yancy
“We prefer a tall, handsome, and above all, slender Jesus."
2 Obedience and humility are God’s twin guardians against the plague of vain ambition resident within the heart of the leader who wants to be a star.
3 Unholy trinity of Amercia’s definition of success; size, speed and public exposure.
4 In our anxious desire to validate the fruit of our ministry, we give in to these definitions.
5 Lewis Lapham, essayist and editor of Harper’s Magazine, wrote in the 60’s:
“The previous distinct genres of journalism, literature, and theatre gradually fused into something known as media. The amalgam of forms resulted in a national theatre of celebrity….it the media succeed with their spectacles and grand simplifications, it is because their audiences define happiness as the state of being well and artfully deceived.
6 The line of separation between truth and fantasy vanishes into something called “testimony” or “vision”.
7 People want to have larger than life heros and these exaggerated claims are rationalised on the grounds that the end justifies the means.
8 Doorway of opportunity can quickly become trap doors for the leader driven to promote his ministry.
9 The enticement of success and popularity can easily deluded a leader into believing the fallacy that opportunity and guidance are synonymous.
10 Walter Wangerin, Jr
“From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus charged those who experienced His power to say nothing about it”
11 Adolph Hitler
“The great masses of the people …will more easily fall victims to a big lie than a small one.”
12 Jesus was almost oblivious to ministry momentum….by his refusal to captialise on the situation and opportunities created.
Jn 8:29 –“…..i always do what pleases Him”. Jesus lived by putting His Father’s will above His own. He dwelt in that serene place where ego, prestige, and position had no dominion.
13 We must seek to order everything in accordance with His will, even if it means forfeiting wonderful opportunities to further enhance our leadership standing. We must have the courage and conviction to say no to a coveted opening even when knowing that by doing so another leader may take our place in reaping the rewards.
14 Why we reject servant leadership?
Nature of servant leadership goes deeply against the grain of human ego.
- we offer mere lip services to the possibility of pride while denying its insidious work in our hearts.
Concentration on an American-style ethos fuels us with a tainted incentive to look good at all cost.
- making promises and announce big plans that will never come about but we look and sound successful. When challenged on such issues, we wax eloquent on the nature and calling of visionary leadership while our followers clamour for more vision talk.
- in America, appearance count more than reality.
Obsession with packaging
- we want a formula or technique that we could market as the next big revelation to solve XXXX or growth, etc.
- we have accepted man-centered, self-glorified, ego-inflating packaging as a normal part of Christendom.
15 Frederick Buechner
“One of the blunders religious people are particularly fond of making is the attempt to be more spiritual than God.”
16 Trap on Destiny and Call
“One’s destiny can become one’s test…the individual driven to act out and prove that he or she is a special chosen vessel can easily forfeit the anointing to lead. The initial calling may well have been from God, but unchecked ego will pervert the call. Vain ambition disguises itself with assertions of uniqueness. Destiny bound with ego easily degenerates into empire building, and empire builders have the unfortunate tendency to become false prophets.”
“The leader wishing to emulate Jesus resists the great temptation to build a ministry around himself. He chooses to abandon himself to the will and pleasure of God….communion takes precedence over causes, obedience over opportunity.”
16 Brennan Manning
“The imposter does not want to come out of hiding. He will grab for the cosmetic kit and put on his pretty face to make himself “presentable”.”
17 The deceitful hearts; things to watch
- status with privileges
- name dropping reveals insecurity
- defensiveness
- self promotion
- using ends to justify means

This book is a Good Read. Many important lessons for us to comtemplate ...and we need to lest we are reflecting leadership of the world more than leadership of Jesus.

If you are a leader...which kind you would rather be?

Pastoral reflection on mentoring.

"Am I a good mentor?"
Someone asked this question during his visit to my place over the CNY. He was asking himself if he had been a good mentor to his boys.

What prompted him, to ask this question, was his dissatisfaction over some of the responses of his disciples.

My reflection over this question is as follow;
Expectation!
What has been the expected expectation from those he mentored?
Has this expectation been clearly defined and communicated?
Has a suitable culture and process been established to bring the expectation into reality? Or was it just an incidental approach to achieve an intentional goal?

Edmund Chan talked a lot about the certain kind of disciples. G12 spoke about G12 leaders; people who could multiple themselves 12x. Nav taught about 2 Tim 2:2.
Every one of the above did not stop at stating their end expectation. They developed a process and culture that would enhance their expectation to become a reality.
They commit EVERY resources within their disposal to ensure that the process and culture are properly established and refined over time.

Back to the question;
If there is no clear expectation, anything can also be considered as acceptable or otherwise.
If there is lack of commitment to the processes, than anything would be a bonus.

Some would raise the question about the lack of appropriate response from the disciples.
This could be resolved when we looked at Jesus and His experience. He had 4 categories of students ie core 3, group of 12, company of 72 and multitudes. And He had a Judas who betrayed Him, a Peter who denied Him, a Thomas who doubted Him, a team of 10 who left Him. By any count, Jesus would have been a failure in discipleship. But He was not. He came back to them, restored them and commissioned them afresh. Love never fails.

What does this mean for us today?
Identify who you have
Don’t expect the 72 to be as close as the 3.
Identify your present group where they are with you ie r they the core 3 or just
plain multitude?
Don’t be afraid to accept the fact that they are not your 3 nor 12.
Do give your best to raise the 3 and 12.
Challenge them to pursue their God given goals.
They must know God and God's dream in their lives
They must own their dream and pursue them.
Only when they own the dream, it will only be your doing in their lives.
The place of prayer and word life are very vital to their spirtual wellbeing; THERE IS NO SHORT CUT.
Accept their progress as your gift of worship to God.
Don’t lord over them.
Accept their progress, no matter how small, as your gift for God and not inflate ego.

My thoughts on Leadership

i enjoyed reading a lot on leadership lately because of the course material i am doing. So i have attached a chapter for myself as well as all of you who wish to learn something new about leadership.

Leadership Paradox by Denny Gunderson
1 Servant – Diakonos; through the sand- The background to this word revolves the story of servant standing in the way of the sand storm to protect the master.
2 Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant” (Matt20:26)
3 The test of our spiritual life is the power to descend…. – Oswald Chambers
4 The human obsession for control and the sincere desire of a true leader to serve are mutually exclusive.
5 The test of fading influence
- how did John the Baptist cope with his decreasing influence with the advent of the Messiah?
- is leadership a position or a role?
Formal leadership overly emphasised followership
Matt 20:25-26; ….not so with you
Jesus clearly and unequivocally denounces as worldly any talk or practice that establishes hierarchical orders?
(i understand the drift of the author on the hierarchical orders but i am not sure if i can fully endorse this position....still thinking...Jethro's advice to Moses was definitely a hierarchical structure. it was meant to make things more manageable for Moses. i tend to see that the verses in Matt 20 refers to the abuse of structure rather than attacking the structure.)
Jim Peterson …..
”Thus, in doing this, our church Fathers neatly and permanently divided
God’s people into two castes; laity and clergy. We have lived with this
caste system ever since, even though the bible teaches otherwise.”

Who do we spend the most time with? People in influence or People in need? Who would Jesus spend the most time with?

Charles Colson
“The pastor or Christian leader who is constantly the object of adoring
crowds soon cant live without it and often unconsciously, begins to shape
his message to assure continual adulation.”

When ministry (noun) takes priority over minister (verb), servanthood is squeezed out.
Ministry of God does not mean my ministry; I cannot lay claims to its effectiveness or lack of….It belongs to God ultimately..
My identity should not be wrapped around my position as a leader.
Embracing one’s own failure and expendability is a major step of liberation away from the bondage of self-interest.

M Scott Peck
“The need for control – to ensure the desired outcome – is at least
partially rooted in the fear of control.”

- A true servant leader
… relinquishment of a prized position, leaving the security of a solid financial “power base”, or
voluntarily minimising one’s own importance so that someone else can have an opportunity
to rise to a place of prominence.
With nothing to prove and no vested interest, take joy in seeing others grow beyond himself.
Henri Nouwen
– The beginning and the end of Christian leadership is to give your life for
other.
Jesus Christ
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28)
The goal of a leader is to work himself out of a job.
A commitment to planned obsolescence may produce inferior automobiles, but it makes for
great servant leaders.

- Questions to think
Are we willing to embrace God’s will even when His will appear to hold a deterioration of our personal place of importance as a leader?
Is our identity so wrapped up in our leadership position that the loss of position causes us deep emotional trauma?
Can we make John the Baptist’s choice to decrease?

A new beginning .... A new call

Summary of past weeks learning.
I have been busy with planning for a camp, studying for my course and taking care of jo and children.
Jo has been unwell due to the wisdom tooth extraction. It is painful seeing her bearing the pain throughout the day. It has been more than 1 week and she is still nursing the pain. Sigh!
Study has been good in that my past 10 submissions for the reading assignment received distinctions. I have been very encouraged that I am moving in the right direction.
God blesses me with a pair of free tickets to London because of the frequent flyer card draw. Another person just sms me that God has spoken to her to bless us financially. Wow! More than the amount, the fact that God spoke to someone about us makes me feel very blessed indeed. God will always take care of His saints….

Lately, I have been reminded about the need to seek His perfect will for my life. John Bereve reminded us that God will hold us accountable to His will. And when we failed, He will raise someone else to fulfil it. In the 90’s, I was told that God called a church to move to Woodland. There was several intention and actions but nothing significant was done. Today, CEFE, Lighthouse and VFC are there. Has that church missed something in the process? I don’t know and I cannot judge ….. but it surely reminded me that I must raise up to do God’s call for Senglee. Otherwise, God will raise someone else to do my part.

This led me to pray and seek God for the past week.

Interestingly, God spoke to me last Sunday through Jn21.
He had called me to love Him by Feeding His Lambs, Taking care of His sheep, Feeding His sheep.
I was very touched cos this passage had been a constant reminder from God at different junctions of my life as a believer.
He has not changed His call in my life and that I have to leave my “boat” and follow Him as an expression of my love.

Yes, the leaving from my “spiritual family” had dealt a great blow in my life. Far deeper than I care to admit and know. I remembered how deeply I cried in one of the night whereby God ministered to me in my dream. In that dream, God drew me out to release my pain to Him. And I cried till I was awaken by the pain I felt. Yes I had been hurt and it was not easy to state that…

But now, I have released the pain to Him by His grace. I have been led to bless sincerely from my heart in another dream. Yes I am an old man now..hahah…”old man dreams dream, young man see vision…” In this other dream, I was led to see the pain in those who hurt me. I was shocked and saddened by what I saw. And I woke up blessing them sincerely from my heart.

After speaking to me through these Dreams, God then spoke to me through the scripture. He knew that as a ex-Navigator, I needed scripture to justify my action plan. In fact, I told God that it would be nice if He could give me another scripture to confirm His will for me. And HE DID through Jn21.

That settles it for me!

I will be a pastor for Him!

2009 - A New Beginning

2009 and what it means for me

God reminded me of His call in my life to desire revival more than respectability. Revival is about bringing in His presence while respectability is about cruising on His past works.

It was very easy for me to “flow” with the system and be comfortable with what was around me. But God wanted otherwise for me. He wants me to continue to pursue the revival that He has placed in my heart.

Thus the stepping out in faith…..like Abraham, not knowing where to go, I am moving on by faith that He will show.

Uncle’s death over the New Year’s Eve, helps me to see the strength or lack of in the many relational ties I though I have. I felt I had not taught the people well on relationship and love. But more importantly, I felt his death signals a new beginning for me. His health deteriorated during the times when I was seriously weighing the call from God. And I felt his “graduation into eternality” is a sign from God to me to move on to the new chapter.

Thus, as a deliberate act to move on, I will no longer be blogging on this site as the original intention of this blog was to disciple online readers from FCBC.

This will be my last post!

Meanwhile, I felt the need to clarify that I am not in City Harvest Church.

I have said to many that I am giving myself time to visit churches in Singapore to see the bigger work of God in this city. I have since visited City Harvest Church, Church of Our Savior, Riverlife, Christlite Methodist, Dawn, Lighthouse Woodlands. I will like to visit a couple more before putting all the learning together. I know that as a visitor we do not see the “true” picture of the church. But it helps to see the distinctiveness in every church ie how they are different from one another, etc. I celebrate the diversity of giftings that I have discovered in the Body of Christ so far.

Particularly, I have visited City Harvest more because this church is amazing. Many are drawn to the worship climate of the service and the preaching of Ps Kong. He is very down to earth and yet very engaging and faith stirring.

Personally, I had visited CHC in the past too during the initial period of starting the youth service. I don’t see anything wrong in visiting churches if you have cleared with your leadership and you are clear in your purpose of doing so.

Meanwhile, I am availing myself to schools and organisation to teach because there is a need to bring “bread to the table”. I have no intention to compete with the friendly organisation which I have “grown” up with. Just to meet practical needs for the family.

But guess every action of mine could be interpreted negatively if people choose to be negative. For that, there is nothing much I could do.

I should never live life to please man but God.

Farewell…..