Calvary - Harvest

This is one of my favourite songs many years ago. It's from the Harvest group.

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CALVARY


 



Calvary, that's the place where Jesus bled and died.
And it's there that sin has lost its power,
At Calvary.
Calvary, there my Jesus won the victory.
There He gave Himself for you and me.
On Calvary.

Brother, give no thought 

For what tomorrow, it may bring. 

Your Father, He knows your heart, 

He knows your every need. 

Just seek Him in His truth, 

and rest upon His Word. 

Share His love to everyone. 

Let's all just praise the Lord. 

Let the stars fall from the skies, 

Let the sun refuse to shine. 

In darkness I know there will be

A light for all mankind.

It doesn't matter who you are, 

Or whatever things you've done. 

 'Cause Jesus, He still loves you, 

and calls for you to come, 

To Calvary . . . 

That's the place where Jesus bled and died. 

And it's there that sin has lost it's power, 

At Calvary. 

Calvary, that's the place where Jesus bled and died. 

And it's there that sin has lost it's power, 

At Calvary. 

Calvary, there my Jesus won the victory. 

There He gave Himself for you and me. 

On Calvary. Calvary. Calvary.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uu__ttXRts&index=7&list=PLAA683E5FF624A60D

Midweek Meditation: "On Faith" (Billy Graham)

Billy Graham passed away on Feb 21st, 2018. Preaching the gospel has been his conviction. Many came to faith. Reflect on Graham's words about the meaning of faith.

• "Your faith may be just a little thread. It may be small and weak, but act on that faith. It does not matter how big your faith is, but rather, where your faith is."
• "The Bible teaches that faith will manifest itself in three ways.
  It will manifest itself in doctrine - in what you believe.
  It will manifest itself in worship - your communion with God.
  It will manifest itself in morality - in the way you live and behave."
• "Our faith can stand up to any question, but sometimes people ask questions - and keep asking questions - just to avoid facing their own spiritual needs and acknowledging who Jesus really is."
• "Faith isn't pretending our problems don't exist, nor is it simply blind optimism. Faith points us beyond our problems to the hope we have in Christ."
• "Faith implies four things: self-renunciation, reliance with utter confidence on Christ, obedience, and a changed life."

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Midweek Meditation: "Making Sense of God 4" (Tim Keller)

TITLE: Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical
AUTHOR: Tim Keller
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: Viking Books, 2016, (330 pages).

Keller continues to invitation to a discussion with the next chapter about happiness and true contentment. He skillfully dissects the four key strategies secular people use to smother their underlying levels of discontent. He critiques firstly the strategies of youth where one thinks that by getting the right job, the right love partner, the right qualifications and so on, one would be happy. Truth is, these are basic distractions from the true pursuit of meaning. Secondly, we complain about the barriers preventing us from getting at our perceived goals of happiness. Thus we resent and believe that our path to happiness is to eliminate these barriers. This too is temporary. Thirdly, we become driven people to accumulate all kinds of possessions and accomplishments. Unfortunately, this is like that running on a treadmill where we have a lot of activity but does not progress in terms of physical distance. Like the physical treadmill, once we tire, we stop. Fourthly, we may adopt the strategy of despairing in which we no longer blame others but ourselves.

Other religions try to resolve such discontent through altruism (just keep doing good no matter how empty we feel); or cynicism (hardening one's heart about the non-existence of good meaning and purpose); or detachment (to escape). Keller then produces a powerful argument for God and love.

Question 4: "How Can We Be Happy?"
"There is another powerful dimension to this reordering of loves. Paul Bloom, in his book How Pleasure Works, argues that what matters most for pleasure is not the simple impact on our senses but what it means in relationship to other persons who matter to us. A painting that we think is an original by an admired artist gives less pleasure when we find out it is not. A chair may be comfortable, but if it is our mother's favorite chair from her sitting room, it will give us even more pleasure. To use theological language, 'we enjoy things most when we experience them as a sacrament - as carriers of the presence of another.' " (93)

"Here, then, is the message. Don't love anything less; instead learn to love God more, and you will love other things with far more satisfaction. You won't overprotect them, you won't overexpect things from them. You won't be constantly furious with them for not being what you hoped. Don't stifle passionate love for anything; rather, redirect your greatest love toward God by loving him with your whole heart and love him for himself, not just for what he can give you. Then, and only then, does the contentment start to come. That is the Christian view of satisfaction. It avoids the pitfalls of both the ancient strategy of tranquillity through detachment and the modern strategy of happiness through acquisition. It both explains and resolves the deep conundrum of our seemingly irremediable discontent." (94)

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Midweek Meditation: "Making Sense of God 3" (Tim Keller)

TITLE: Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical
AUTHOR: Tim Keller
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: Viking Books, 2016, (330 pages).

Continuing the excerpts from Keller's very wise take on secularism and religion,

Question 3: "Is Meaning in Life Without God Practically Possible?"
A growing number of skeptics are insisting on the freedom to think and believe in anything they choose. With such a heavy reliance on humanistic thinking, the question Keller poses the question of meaning and God, beginning with a possible yes before concluding with a larger no. Note how Keller inserts the word 'practically' into the question.

"So is meaning in life without God practically possible? Public discourse is filled with loud religious voices insisting that life without God is inevitably pointless, bleak, and unworkable. On the other side there are plenty of secular people who insist that they not only have satisfying meaning in life but also have a kind of freedom that religious people do not. Who is right? Can we have meaning in life without any belief in God at all? To be fair to all, I would argue that the answer is both yes and no.

I say yes because both by our definition and by lived experience secular people can certainly know meaning in life. We defined 'meaning' as having both a purpose and the assurance that you are serving some good beyond yourself. If you decide that the meaning of your life is to be a good parent, or to serve a crucial political cause, or to tutor underprivileged youth, or to enjoy and promote great literature - then you have, by definition, a meaning in life. Plenty of secular people live like this without being tortured or gloomy in the manner of a Camus. It is quite possible to find great purpose in the ordinary tasks of life, apart from knowing answers to the Big Questions About Existence.

But I also say no. Secular people are often unwilling to recognize the significant difference between what have been called 'inherent' and 'assigned' meanings. Traditional belief in God was the basis for discovering, objective meaning - meaning that is there, apart from your inner feelings or interpretations. If we were made by God for certain purposes, then there are inherent meanings that we must accept.

The meanings that secular people have are not discovered but rather created. They are not objectively 'there.' They are subjective and wholly dependent on our feelings. You may determine to live for political change or the establishment of a happy family, and these can definitely serve as energizing goals. However, I want to argue that such created meanings are much more fragile and thin than discovered meanings. Specifically, discovered meaning is more rational, communal, and durable than created meaning." (64-65)

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BookPastor >> "Calling in Today's World" (Kathleen A. Cahalan & Douglas J. Schuurman)

Ever thought about what calling means from other worldviews? Perhaps, this book can give you a better idea. This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on Oct 18th, 2016.

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TITLE: Calling in Today's World: Voices from Eight Faith Perspectives
EDITORS:  Kathleen A. Cahalan & Douglas J. Schuurman
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2016, (238 pages).

What do people in generally think about calling? Is it only something that Christians ask? Surely, the Buddhists, the Muslims, and the secularists in society would have their own perspectives too. In fact, according to the editors of this book, many students and colleagues have been asking the same question: "What do other people think about calling?" or "Is there an equivalent concept in your religion or belief?" So they went forth to ask various individuals whether they can contribute to the overall understanding of what calling means according their faith perspective. They found eight! According to Cahalan and Schuurman, their purpose for this book is to help "build a better, more humane world" by establishing bridges of understanding of one another's beliefs. Apart from that, Christians reading this book would be able to revisit their own understanding of what calling means in their own tradition. They can dispel any notion that calling is merely for the ministry or church related endeavors. They can avoid limiting calling to only supernatural matters, but to be inclusive of all matters. They can look at calling more in terms of freedom of choice rather than some strict "blueprint" we have to adhere to. In a conversational approach, each of the eight contributors are given an opportunity to talk about what calling means.

BookPastor >> "Impossible People" (Os Guinness)

This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on July 26th, 2016.

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TITLE: Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization
AUTHOR: Os Guinness
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2016, (240 pages).

When Os Guinness writes, it is always a challenge not simply to sit down and read but to rise up and do something. Filled with biblical conviction and a faithful desire to be obedient to God's calling, Guinness harnesses his years of experience and knowledge of our culture to raise a battle cry for Christians to take their stand. There are four major challenges not only to the Christian faith but to Western civilization. First, the challenge of being weakened. The Judeo-Christian faith has been weakened and overrun by secularism and modernity. Second, the challenge of internal splits which has two post-Christian forces that threaten to move society toward nihilism on one side and extreme humanism on the other side. Third, the challenge of two major external forces. With a weakened Christian perspective, Western civilization becomes more vulnerable to aggressive secularism and radical Islam. Fourth, the need for courage and bold witness in the light of such obstacles. Can Christians rise up to these challenges?

Guinness compares this present challenging age to the first three centuries clash with the Caesars and the sixteenth Century threats from the Ottomans. He coins the "four infamous S factors" as Secularism; Secularization; Separationism; and Statism. In order to survive against the grand showdown, we need to take a leaf from history. Be reminded about how Daniel and his friends stood up against the idolatry of Nebuchadnezzar; how the early Christians would rather die than deny their faith; and how Athanasius fought the heretics of old. The tragedy of many mainstream WWII German Christians is how easily they cave in to the political ambitions of Hitler. Will the West today commit a similar error of omission? Instead of reforming from within, many are becoming more accepting of the outside world, even compromising their biblical principles.

BookPastor >> "Flourishing" (Miroslav Volf)

This review was first published on March 2nd, 2016 at Panorama of a Book Saint.

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TITLE: Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World
AUTHOR: Miroslav Volf
PUBLISHER: New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016, (304 pages).

Religions and globalizations have been around for a long time. Both have interacted and have influenced each other. In turn, they have affected all areas of our lives in varying degrees. The purpose of this book is to examine this relationship and offer reasons for faith in this increasingly complex world. The religions included in this book are primarily Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. For globalization, the author leads us through the various revolutions and the history of globalization. Coming from a background that was overwhelmingly Catholic and Orthodox, with a Muslim minority, the author is keenly aware of the complex relationships among the religions and the way globalization has impacted them. More importantly, the globalization model that we know in our time, is but a "moment in the grand arc of history" between creation and the new creation. He contrasts that with the two coming of Christ. The first is how Christ came into the world and dwelt among us. The second is a future-bound coming of Christ. In this light, Volf is particularly aware of opinions that are humanistic and non-religious, especially those that are calling for the abolition of religion altogether. Addressing this, in order for the world to flourish way further down the future road, religions are part of the solution and not part of the problem. This is Volf's conviction, and the book's chapters all argue in favour of this. For true flourishing, we have to deal with the age old commandment of God, to love God and to love our neighbour. While he offers a Christian perspective, he also argues that the other religions have more reasons to support his proposal. Using six formal and common features of world religions, he paints a vision of a future where religious thought can contribute to the flourishing of the world. Some key pointers are:

Midweek Meditation: Next Seven Martyrs in History (Foxes Book of Martyrs)

Here is a list of the next seven martyrs of the Christian faith. The list of first ten martyrs were published last week.

NAME OF MARTYR	HOW THEY DIED
Jude	The brother of James, also called Thaddeus was crucified at Edessa in AD 72.
Bartholomew	Having preached widely in several countries, he helped translate the gospel of Matthew into the language of India. He was subsequently beaten cruelly at length and crucified.
Thomas	Also called Didymus, he was preaching the gospel in India and Parthia, and martyred by spears.
Luke the Evangelist	A traveling companion with Paul. Idolatrous priests of Greece hung him on an olive tree.
Simon	Preached the gospel in Mauritia, Africa, and even Britain where he was crucified in AD 74.
John	Thrown into a cauldron of burning oil but he escaped death miraculously. Only disciple to avoid a violent death.
Barnabas	Died in AD 73.

You can download the Foxes Book of Martyrs for free here or here.

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"The Four Candles" - A Beautiful Story

This is a beautiful story of four candles that tried to stay lit.



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If you want to read the story in text, click below...

My Son's Commissioning (17 Jan 2016)

Yesterday was a proud moment for my wife and I. My son commissioned as an officer after 38 grueling weeks of training, both locally and overseas. He has done well and yesterday, he was commissioned among 582 officer cadets (OCTs). Among them are 454 (army), 66 (navy), and 62 (air force). Below are some video clips of the happy occasion.

A) Excited parents waiting from as early as 3pm. Parade starts at 1741 hours.



B) The contingent marches singing the OCS song.




C) My son is among the five carrying the parade colours. He is behind the one carrying the Singapore flag.



D) Singapore President doing the review of the contingents




E) Religious leaders from different faiths praying for the about to be commissioned officers





F) The Commissioning Moment (After the reciting of the SAF Creed)

G) Slow Marching Out by the Newly Commissioned Officers (99/15 cohort)

H) Parents Fixing the Epaulette. We got lost in the crowd and couldn't find him. Thankfully....

I) Finally .. . .. ..  (If you are interested, here's the officer's creed)




J) Proud Moment for Us

All smiles around.

Congratulations Aaron! We're so proud of you.

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Midweek Meditation: "Abandoning Ourselves to God" (Charles de Foucauld)

This prayer is a deeply personal commitment of faith in God, made to God. Made by Charles de Foucauld who lost his faith when young, he came back to God after a powerful spiritual experience when in his 20s. His faith led him to the people in the Sahara. Born to an aristocratic family in France, he was eventually assassinated when the country he was in had an uprising against all things French. The words of this prayer showed his abandonment of himself to God completely.

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Charles de Foucault (1858-1916)

Father, I abandon myself into Your Hands;
Do with me what You will.
Whatever You do I thank You.
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your Will be done in me,
As in all Your creatures,
I ask no more than this, my Lord.
Into Your Hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to You, O Lord,
With all the love of my heart,
For I love You, my God, and so need to give myself,
To surrender myself into Your Hands,
Without reserve and with total confidence,
For You are my Father. 

(Prayer by Charles de Foucauld, 1858-1916)

Midweek Meditation: "Love is Risky"

 "To love is to risk not being loved in return
To hope is to risk disappointment.
But risks must be taken because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, sees nothing, has nothing and is nothing.
He cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love and live." (Anonymous)

Indeed, life is a risk. Love is risky. Not to risk is not to live or to love. Jesus loves us. That is why he risks his own life for our sakes.

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BookPastor >> "The Ultimate Gift" (Jim Stovall)

TITLE: The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1)
AUTHOR: Jim Stovall
PUBLISHER: Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook Publishers, 2007, (156 pages).

Red Stevens had died. He had also left a will that determines how his riches would be distributed. Eagerly, his family members gather around to hear what they would be getting from their rich relative through a lawyer friend, Theodore J. Hamilton. The will executioner holds a document that would decide how the $1billion inheritance would be discharged. Alas! The initial excitement for the family members became a disappointment when they did not get what they hoped to get. The last to depart from the disappointing meeting was Jason Stevens, the grand-nephew of Red Stevens. Just when he was about to leave, he was given a video tape. Inside this video contains instructions that essentially offers Jason a stark choice. He can either follow the instructions strictly to the letter or simply walk away. The condition is that over a period of a year, he would have to pass a test every month. He would need to pass each test before proceeding to the next. If any test had been either incomplete or unsatisfactorily done, Jason would receive nothing more. The rest of the book details how Jason character was changed at the completion of each assignment. Most remarkable was the lessons the came with each test. Below are snippets of lasting lessons that Jason had learnt in the process of completing the assignments.

• Work: He who loves his work never labors.
• Money: Money is nothing more than a tool. It can be a force of good, a force of evil, or simply be idle.
• Friends: It is a wealthy person, indeed, who calculates riches not in gold but in friends.
• Learning: Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel.
• Problems: Problems can only be avoided by exercising good judgment. Good judgment can only be gained by experiencing life’s problems
• Family: Some people are born into wonderful families. Others have to find or create them. Being a member of a family is a priceless privilege which costs nothing but love.
• Laughter: Laughter is a good medicine for the soul. Our world is desperately in need of more such medicine. Dreams: Faith is all that dreamers need to see the future.
• Giving: The only way you can truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.
• Gratitude: In those times when we yearn to have more in our lives we should dwell on the things we already have. In doing so, we will often find that our lives are already full to overflowing.
• A Day: Life at its essence boils down to one day at a time. Today is the day!
• Love: Love is a treasure for which we can never pay. The only way to keep it is to give it away.

Like the conditioning of the soul, and the blossoming of a person's character, Jason overcame each assignment with increasing determination. As his perspective changes from arrogance to humility, unappreciative to gratefulness, his wisdom to deal with wealth and riches also increases. This is exactly what the wise Red Stevens had in mind. The late billionaire had learnt how free handouts have often brought about the worst in people who never truly learn the more important things in life. This reminds me of the wisdom in Proverbs 28:6, "Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse."

We all need to be wise with what we have. For those of us who have been working and have accumulated a sizable amount of assets and wealth, one of the biggest concerns is how to go about distributing them. Do we give all of them to our children? How do we decide who gets what? What about grace in giving? How do we give away our wealth wisely? Not many books can offer brilliant advice with simplicity and with such powerful narrative. Though this novel is fictional, the things and virtues talked about in the book is very real. Pick up this book and read away. Then, buy a couple to give away, especially for those of us who know of wealthy people in their last phases of life.

conrade

BookPastor >> "Taking Your Soul to Work" (R. Paul Stevens and Alvin Ung)

TITLE: Taking Your Soul to Work: Overcoming the Nine Deadly Sins of the Workplace
AUTHOR: R. Paul Stevens and Alvin Ung
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010, (206 pages).

In the past two decades, the topic of faith in the workplace has been talked about in Christian circles. How can we live not only as Sunday Christians but all-day Christians? What can we do to be Christian not only in Church but also be in the office? Is it possible to be a Christian in the workplace? The dichotomy between faith and work has become so sharp that many believers need help on how to bridge the two to avoid becoming Christian only on Sundays and less so on the other days. In this book, Paul Stevens, author of The Other Six Days, and Alvin Ung, author of Barefoot Leadership have come together to speak wisely into the situation. As far as they are concerned, there is no dichotomy between faith, work, Christian living, and worship. With Stevens from the West and Ung from the East, they have tried to make this book as contextually sensitive and culturally relevant to both West and East. Their key concerns:

• Handling the frustrations, challenges, and ambiguities of the complex workplace
• Letting work be an opportunity for spiritual growth
• Allowing work as a way to draw us closer to God
• Keeping God in mind while working
• Finding our God's will in our workplace
• Sensing the presence of God in our ups and downs
• Seeing the work context as ways to overcome our "hidden compulsions" and "discover new strengths"
• and many more.

BookPastor >> "Rising Above a Toxic Workplace" (Gary Chapman, Paul White, and Harold Myra)

If there is one word to improve any work culture and relationships in the workplace, it is summarized in one word: "Appreciation." This review was first published on August 12th, 2014 at Panorama of a Book Saint. 

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TITLE: Rising Above a Toxic Workplace: Taking Care of Yourself in an Unhealthy Environment
AUTHOR: Gary Chapman, Paul White, and Harold Myra
PUBLISHER: Chicago, IL: Northfield Publishing, 2014, (160 pages).

Ever encountered the boss from hell? What about irritating colleagues who absolutely ruin our day? Maybe, there is a negativity so heavy that going to the workplace no longer seems fun or exciting anymore. The fact is, there are many places that have a toxic environment that can discourage and turn off ordinary workers from discharging their best. According to a Gallup poll, seven in ten people work in toxic workplaces. A bad workplace also leads to stress and reduced productivity. Class tensions create divisions within organizations.

Then there is the toxic boss from hell. They cannot take no for an answer. Not only that, they can make life miserable for subordinates who are desperate to keep their job. Some bosses are so abusive that standing up to them may very well be worse off. Greed and envy are the toxic fumes in any workplace. Even those companies that shot to fame based on their ranking in "Best companies to work for" are not immune from toxic workplaces. For what is wonderful for now is no guarantee of the future.

Midweek Meditation: "Sailing Prayer"

This lovely prayer is attributed to some islands North of Australia. For many of the island dwellers, sailing and fishing form an essential part of their livelihood.

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O Jesus,
    Be the canoe that holds me in the sea of life

Be the steer that keeps me straight.
    Be the outrigger that supports me in times of great temptation.

Let Thy Spirit be my sail that carries me through each day.

    Keep my body strong, so that I can paddle steadfastly on,
In the long voyage of life.