The Promise of Mercy & Grace

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“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. “ (Hebrews 4:16)

Mercy is not getting what we deserve.

Grace is getting what we don’t deserve.

And it is grace and mercy that often gets us out of trouble!

We all have burdens and concerns that sometimes keep us awake at night.  Like last Wednesday when we just came back from my in-laws’ place in Penang, I suddenly got a message in the evening that there was a big problem in a project that I was handling. It just upset my mood for the whole evening.  And the only thing that I could do was cry out, “God, help me.  God, have mercy.”  I do not even know how to pray...

Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.  “In our time of need” literally means “at the right moment when we need it.”  

God’s answers are always perfectly timed.  

Seldom early and never late.

The cars that we drive comes with an air bag.  Or rather a few air bags; in the driver’s seat, passenger’s seat, rear seats.  You’ve never seen the air bags.  But they tell you, as soon as you hit something head-on, it’s going to explode.  It’s going to catch you like a down pillow.  It will be nice.  And it will save your life.

Have you ever seen the air-bags in your car? 

Is it there?

You don’t know. 

You hope it is there. 

When are you going to find out? 

When you need it.

My wife, CP, had first hand experience finding out about the air bag in her car, a few years ago.   She tried to avoid a Styrofoam box in the middle of the NPE (New Pantai Expressway) lost control and hit into the concrete crash barrier and her car overturned.  The air-bag exploded and cushioned her from hitting the windscreen and the steering wheel. 

It worked!  

She crawled out safely from the overturned car with hardly a scratch on her.  It was a miracle!

Like an airbag, when we need divine intervention,  God is going to be there.  We cannot see it right now. But we will receive mercy and find grace just at the time when we need it.

So, what do we do in the meantime?  In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, because all our worrying today is not going to change one second of tomorrow.  You learn to trust God and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 

God already knows what is going to happen tomorrow, and the day after, and the days after that.  And He has promised to be with you no matter what happens.

So, as we stand on the threshold of 2018, getting ready to enter into 2019, let us remember that God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.  

He is with us when we feel His presence. 

And He is with us even during the times when we feel nothing at all.

God is faithful.  And He is in control.

And as for the problem in the project that God has placed under my watch, God's air-bag has not been activated yet.  There is still no solution in sight.

I have confidence that God will work things out for me in the new year.  

He has always done so.  

Just that I do not know how or when.

It can sometimes be quite exciting as we anticipate God's intervention in real-time.  
Just hope that it does not happen too often .......
because it can be quite stressful !

Cheers & Have a Blessed New Year!

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Secrets To A Good Marriage

After 33 years of marriage, if someone were to ask me, “So, what’s the secret to a successful marriage?”, how would I answer?

I secretly chuckle as I ponder some of the typical politically correct responses from the “Don’t go to bed angry” to the “Always say I love you whenever you leave for work”………

Do you know how many times in 33 years we had quarreled and got mad at each other and I turned a cold shoulder towards my wife? No, I have never brought her flowers to make up. I am not a romantic guy. We have broken all the “rules” for a successful marriage.

The secret to a long lasting marriage is there is no secret at all! 

How did you think our parents, and our grandparents stayed married for so long?

Commitment...

It is a get up and try again over and over every single day.

It is hanging on tight when we were young, newly married and living in a rented room with portable plastic wardrobes and a trusty 14” colour TV, a VHS recorder and a portable radio-cassette player for entertainment, because that was all we could afford.

It is driving a second-hand Datsun 120Y, and progressing to a second-hand Toyota Corolla, until we realized it is more economical to purchase a new Proton Saga because the wear-&-tear car maintenance costs were getting too high.

It is coping with our first newborn baby all on our own because my parents were in Seremban, whilst my wife's parents were in Penang. We were both overwhelmed, but we were in it together.

It is counting our pennies when we were a young family so that we could build a life together for our future.

It is about knowing that nothing is going to turn out perfect, and that we make mistakes financially and emotionally as we go along.

It is about knowing that we can never be prepared for all the things that life will throw at us:-

  We went through two recessions,
    I had my salary cut twice
      My wife had two miscarriages,
        I went through two bad bouts of depression

          We were robbed by a motor-bike chopper-wielding gang right after we had just withdrawn a big sum of our hard-earned money from the bank, ……

It is knowing that we are not alone and that we have each other as our best friend walking together with us through life. 
And we have God with us, too.

God blessed us with our very own little 18’0” terraced house after seven years of marriage.

We were blessed with two great daughters……

God is just good!

So, what is the secret to a long, lasting marriage?

Just keep trusting God and be committed to each other, every single day, whether in the valleys or on the mountain tops. 

Don’t ever stop. 

Because stopping…..

And that is no secret……

Stopping will make you fail.

Commitment doesn't wear thin after the honeymoon ends.

It is the renewed choice you make each and every morning!

The Upper Room

chapel.upperroom.org

Acts 1:4-14

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples went back to the upper room, to the very same place where they had the Last Supper, and they prayed and waited, just as Christ commanded.

The early church habitually go to the upper room.  That was the last place where they spent the Last Supper with Christ.  They instinctively go back to the upper room.

Incidentally,

Samuel calls to Saul in the upper room, prior to his anointing (1 Samuel 9)

When the son of the widow of Zarephath died,  Elijah took the body of the child to the upper room and raised the boy to life again. (1 Kings 17)

When the son of the Shunamite woman died, Elisha raised the boy from the dead also in the upper room. (2 Kings 4)

Peter raised Dorcas from the dead in the upper room (Acts 9:39~40)

Peter, when sent to Cornelius, went to the upper room to pray (Acts 10:9)

When James was beheaded and Peter put in jail, the early church gathered together at the upper room to pray earnestly for him (Acts 12)

In Troas, Paul preached to a large group of believers in the upper room (Acts 20:7-8)

Elijah, Elisha, Peter, Paul, the twelve, all had their own upper rooms.  

The early church started in the upper room. 


Do you get the idea now ..?


Things always happen in the upper room ........

Do you have an upper room to go to?  

All of us should.  

To set apart time when we can withdraw from the world to fellowship with God and spend time on His Word.  Maybe this was what Christ meant when he said to go into your room when you pray? (Matthew 6:6)  Was Jesus talking about our own individual upper room?  

It does not have to be an actual room.  Just a place where you can get away from the distractions of the world to spend time fellowshiping with God in His Word.

Maybe this is the reason why we re-enact the upper room experience every Sunday morning?  

Because on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he was in the upper room with his disciples. And he took bread and in the act of breaking he said, 

"This bread is a symbol of my body broken for you. This cup is a symbol of my blood poured out for the forgiveness of your sins.  Do this in memory of me."

And, that is why every Sunday we all go back to the upper room as a church. 

We go back to the upper room to fellowship with Christ. 

My Journey From PVD to RD to Vitrectomy

Monday night 5 Feb 2018
I was watching T.V. when I suddenly noticed a lot of flashes on the top right corner of my left eye.

Tuesday

Noticed a watery layer on the same area on top right hand corner each time I shift my eyes to the left. Didn't think it was serious. I was used to flashes & floaters in my eyes. Anyway, decided to get my eyes checked.

Datin Teo of SJMC (Subang Jaya Medical Centre) was on leave. So I went to Ranu Eye Specialist Center.

Dr Ranu didn't find anything wrong with my retina. It's just posterior vitreous detachment, he assures me. Need to monitor closely.

Thursday afternoon

The translucent layer is covering more than 1/3 of my left eye & blurring my vision. Went to Dr Ranu again. He again examined & found nothing wrong. In order to put me at peace, he referred me to Dr Kenneth Foong of SMC (Sunway Medical Centre), vitreo-retinal specialist. But Dr Ken was on leave. He then referred me to Dr Selva of SMC. But Dr Selva was only available on Saturday.

No. I need to see a specialist immediately. Hermon Yong, who's done this before, recommended Dr Paul Singh from Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital who treated him before. But that was 20 years ago. Dr Ranu then suggested Dr Lim Kian Seng at ISEC (International Specialists Eye Centre). But Dr Lim was at a conference. I finally decided to see Dr Ronald Arun Das.  He was recommended by a few people, and I had one previous consultation with him, and sort of liked him.

I prayed oh so hard. I asked God for the restoration of my eyesight for His Namesake & His glory. Hoping against hope that it is only a simple floater issue that will go away.

Friday

At ISEC, Dr Ronald immediately diagnosed my problem as retinal detachment & recommended immediate vitrectomy.   It was an ocular emergency.  His very words. He will squeeze my op to just before another one of his surgery at noon.

I was stunned.

I half thought he would just give me some eye drops, maybe laser my eyes, then send me home and come back for follow-ups......

I followed the nurse, like a lamb to the slaughter, to get registered for the surgery! I was in a daze.  Literally didn't know what I was doing..... Just kept thinking about having to cancel our Penang trip during the Chinese New Year holidays & the planned Bangkok family trip on Mar 17!

I so wanted to have a general anaesthetic op but couldn't because this was a last minute unscheduled op & there were no anaesthesiologist available.

I have earlier watched YouTube videos about vitrectomy and how three ports will puncture & be inserted into my eye ball through the eye white to facilitate inserting the fibreoptic light, vitrector & other micro surgical instruments. It was scary.

So, it was to be done under local anesthesia.

After lying down on OT (operating theatre) table, they applied a few different numbing eye drops.  Finally Dr Ron gave me a jab in my eye, & mentioned that the hardest part was now over. I think that was the anaesthetic jab. It didn't hurt at all :D. (I was expecting a tooth extraction type of jab...!)

After that when Doc started puncturing & inserting the micro instruments into my eye, I only felt some light pressure on my eye ball. Could actually even see the vitrector sucking away the vitreous!  Doc then performed cryo and laser on my eye.

Soon I couldn't see anything at all with my left eye. I think that was when Doc pumped in the gas bubble.

The op only took about 20 minutes. Faster than expected. A doctor friend later commented that Dr Ron is very skillful & fast in what he does.

After being pushed out of the OT, Doc ordered 5 hours face down. And thereafter two weeks of lying on my right side, with 5 minutes rest every waking hour.  Quite confusing becos I was told before the op it will be three weeks face down..., Will ask Doc again during my followup on Monday.

Good news. AIA approved my Guarantee Letter, so my surgery was covered by insurance.

Saturday. 
Removed the bandage. Vision is very blur & distorted. Like looking through a fish bowl. Could actually see the meniscus of the gas bubble on top of my vision.

Time passed so slowly. Sitting face down was like being in a torture chamber. Neck & back hurts like mad.

Sunday.

Nothing to report. It will take a long time to see the results of healing, that is, after the gas bubble has dissolved..

I can still see that translucent layer on my top right corner. 

Will it go away......?
Nothing I can do, now.
I got a good Doctor who did a good job.

I got a great God who has created me with a fearful & wonderful body! He has never let me down whether in matters great or small. I have already petitioned to Him as only a child could ask his father. Only thing to do now is to trust Him.

Monday

Went for my follow up today.. Doc reminded me not to move too much & stick to the positioning protocol to prevent tearing again. I thought he was being a bit impatient.

Tuesday.

Thought I saw some broad flashing light moving along the bottom. What could that be? A bit scary here. Maybe it's just images of the smaller gas bubbles..?

Monday Feb 19
The occasional flashes has reduced. The translucent layer has gone.

Went for my follow up. Doc says the retina is healing nicely. The gas bubble is about 50%. However, the image above the gas bubble is a bit distorted. Straight lines, edges, etc, are not perfectly straight. They are sort of wavy in the center.

Doc says this is probably temporary. He will do a scan of my eye two weeks later.

I still have four more days of sideways positioning :D

Friday Feb 23
Today is the last day of my lying down sideways positioning. 
What a relief! 

How did I endure the past two weeks?
One day at a time.
One hour at a time.

Today is not the end of the journey. My retina will take 4~6 weeks to heal fully. The gas bubble will probably take another week to disappear. My vision distortion will take some time to stabilise, if there are no other problems.

Where was God in all these? Dare I make a bold statement of confidence even though my journey is far from over?

I could see His impeccable timing.

Just when most of the retinal specialists were unavailable due to the pre-festive season, God led me to Dr Ronald who was an expert in this field.

I have just finished my office assignment when this happened.  It could have happened when we were travelling to Penang for CNY holidays.

Retinal detachment has a bad reputation of happening again without warning especially for high myopes like me. It is so beyond my control. Each time I notice flashes in my eyes, my heart would skip a heartbeat. Is this deja-vu?

I pray for strength and will continue to trust God for the remainder of this journey.

Friday March 9

Started working since Tues March 6. Vision nearly as good as before. The slightly wavy lines in left eye not so noticeable when I am looking with both eyes.

My eyes tend to tire easily. I kept reminding myself not to strain my eyes, and rest my eyes by looking in the distance at every periodic interval.

Wonder how long before I can go back to normal life, able to lift heavy things like pail, car battery, hammering, etc...

From the FB (facebook) chat group some say 3 months, some say one year, some say cannot lift more than 5 lbs weight, some say always cannot lift heavy things........!

I am confused and disheartened. I am only 58. Have I so fast become an invalid that I cannot carry out any simple laborious tasks...? Like carrying a pail of water to mop the floor? 

The other day when I carried a pail of water becos of water cut, I felt a "tug" on my eye. What was that?

What about my trip to Bangkok on Mar 17. Will I be able to carry my own luggage? 

So humiliating...so useless.....

I nearly got involved in a car accident this evening. Slammed on the brakes when some idiot beat the red lights right across in front of me..! That jolt! Did it dislodge my retina?

Scared. Depressed. Useless.
Reading all those articles (& hearing from Dr Ronald, too) that the possibility of the other eye getting RD is 10~15%.
Now wishing I had also dilated my right eye for Doc to check last Friday!

Felt very depressed. Wished I had requested anti-depressants from Doc. Maybe will request for it at my next follow-up visit.

Having this perpetual fear that I have a glass eye that might break anytime....

Wed Mar 14

Had a final check-up before our family trip to Bangkok on March 17. Doc gave the all clear. But dunno why I still feel the occasional ache in my eye. Maybe it's the nerves that are still healing from the laser to my tear. Anyway, I guess this is where faith and trust in God comes in. The timing of my RD just before CNY already showed that God was in control all along. However much I would like to, there are many things in life that are out of my control. Just have to trust God one day at a time. He has never let me down before.

Mon Oct 8

Eight months post-op.  I am near getting back to normal life again.  God willing, I hope I will continue to live happily ever after.... :D

Praise God!

Feb 9

     Face-down posturing

                         Aug 4  with my 15lb Clubbell

Easter

2 April 2017

I dunno about you guys, maybe it is because I am getting older, but it feels like we have just celebrated Christmas.  And now it is Easter already.  Time flies when you are getting old. 

Christmas and Easter are always linked together.  But for most of us, Christmas is always celebrated in a grander way than Easter.  Christmas is like the climax at the end of the year.  Whereas Easter is just another long weekend of second-rated celebration somewhere in the month of April.  But do you know that if there is no Easter, Christmas would have no meaning at all?

Whenever the early Christians preached Christ, they preached about the empty tomb.  They do not talk about Bethlehem at all.  In fact, two of the gospels, Mark and John, does not even mention anything about the virgin birth of Christ.  But the resurrection of Jesus is constantly brought up again and again in every part of the New Testament.  Without the resurrection, there would be no Christianity at all.  In Romans 4:25, Paul says that Jesus was delivered up for our trespass and raised for our justification.  Christ’s death on the cross for our sins was so complete, so satisfactory, that God affirmed the Son’s righteousness by raising Him from the dead, demonstrating His power and victory over sin and death!

During Easter, we are also reminded of another Chinese festival, Cheng Beng, where most Chinese would visit the tombs of their loved ones.  It reminds us of our mortality.  That from the moment we are born, we start to die.

Death is a curse upon God’s perfect creation.  Romans 5:12 tells us that just as sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and death through sin, death came to all men, because all have sinned.  We die because of sin.  Sickness and old age are merely symptoms of the one great cause of death, which is Sin.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he broke the power of sin & death forever.    

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?” (John 11:25~26)

What Jesus is saying here is, death for the Christian is not the end. It is merely the continuation of life into the presence of God.  Death holds no terror for the child of God.  That is what Paul meant when he says that death has now lost its sting, and the grave has lost its victory.  For to live is Christ and to die “is gain” (Phil 1:21)   

And one day, when Jesus comes again, we will be given a new and incorruptible body, scripture tells us.  What will our new body be like?

What was Jesus’ resurrected body like?  He could enter into a room without opening the door.  The disciples were able to recognize him and communicate with him. He could also eat food together with the disciples.  And the Bible tells us that when he appears we shall be like him (1 John 3:2), 

which means our new glorified body that God will give us one day will be similar to the resurrected body of our Lord.  

which means we will still be able to eat!  And we like that, don’t we? 

Not only that. We will see our loved ones again who have died in the Lord.  Our loved ones who have died in the Lord are not only a part of our past, they are also a part of our future! 

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know, He holds the future

And life is worth the living just because He lives!

The Chosen Nation

24 June 2018

Lately, I have been reading through the book of Genesis for my quiet time.  And I could not help but notice that the 12 tribes of Israel, which came from the 12 sons of Jacob, was such a dysfunctional family.

We all know how Jacob was conned by his uncle, Laban, to marry both his daughters.  Jacob loved Rachel and he worked 7 years for Laban in order to earn the right to marry Rachel.  And according to scriptures, because of his love for Rachel, the 7 years seem like a few days to Jacob.

But on his wedding night or rather the morning after the wedding night, he discovered Laban had given him the elder sister Leah, instead of Rachel.  So, he had to work another 7 years for Laban in order to marry Rachel, too.

But Rachel was barren.  And Leah bore Jacob 4 sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi & Judah. 

Rachel was jealous of Leah because she could not give Jacob any children, so she gave her maidservant to Jacob as his wife and bore him 2 sons, Dan and Naphtali.

Now it was Leah’s turn to be jealous, so she gave her maidservant to be Jacob’s wife and she bore him 2 sons, Gad and Asher.

Leah then gave birth to 2 more sons, Issachar & Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah.

Finally God opened Rachel’s womb and she gave birth to Joseph & Benjamin.

There you have it, Jacob has 12 sons and 1 daughter, from Rachel and Leah and their maidservants. 

And these 12 sons of Jacob are not exactly the role model kind of guys.

In Genesis 34, we read how Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, raped Dinah, after which he decided to ask for her hand in marriage.  The 12 sons of Jacob deceived Shechem and Hamor that if all their men were to be circumcised, then they will let Shechem marry Dinah.  So Schechem and all the men in the village were circumcised, and while they were recovering 3 days later, the sons of Jacob attacked and killed Shechem, Hamor and all the men in the village, and carried away their women and children and plunder.

This is the origin of the 12 tribes of Israel, the foundation of the Israelite nation.  Not very pretty, right...?  And yet God chose Israel to be his special nation,

to be the custodian of His law,

to be a blessing to the world,

to bring about His grand, redemptive purposes for mankind, from which one day will come forth the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

How come?

God did not choose Israel because they were special.  Israel was special because God chose them, in spite of their imperfections, failings and weaknesses. 

God did not choose Israel because they were smart or a great nation, or because they were better than anyone.  God chose Israel because of His grace.  God is sovereign and He can use whomever He want to use to accomplish His purposes.

As we think about ourselves.  God does not love us because we were lovely, or because we were smart or better than anyone else… .

God demonstrated His love towards us in that

while we were yet sinners

while we were yet His enemies

while we were yet ungodly

while we were yet far away from Him

Christ died for us.

And through the death of His Son we can now have forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. And this is the marvelous grace of God that He has lavished upon us.

Praise God!

Faithfulness Through Fire

I was meditating on Daniel 3:17~18 some time ago.

If you remember the story, King Nebuchadnezzar had a ninety feet high golden statue of himself erected and decreed that all have to bow down and worship at the sound of the royal music.  Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into the blazing furnace.

When the time came, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow down, and they had to suffer the consequence of being thrown into the furnace.

“If we are thrown into the furnace, the God we serve is able to save us & rescue us.  But even if He does not save us, we will not serve your gods,”  they replied.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not doubt God’s ability to save them.

Whether or not God will save them they cannot know.  That is immaterial.

Faithfulness is not dependent upon an escape hatch.  They choose faithfulness because it is the right thing to do, even if it costs them their lives.

Courage joyfully believes that God can do anything, but is prepared to suffer rather than compromise in obedience.

Now, let us raise the stakes a bit .........

Read again from the beginning and this time replace the word “save” with the word “heal”, and see how this affects your theology……..

Will we continue to trust God and be faithful to Him, 

even if He does not heal us of our sicknesses.....?

even if we do not know the reason why.....?

"Know that the LORD is God," and we are not (Psalm 100:3)

The God of Second Chances

Every morning that we wake, a new day awaits us.  It is a fresh start. A new beginning.  A chance to start all over again.

The Chinese has a saying, “Tomorrow will be better”  (明天會更好) 

As I grow older, I realize how more and more imperfect I am.  I do wrong things and regret it later.  I say wrong things at the wrong times. I think wrong thoughts in anger.  It is comforting to know that I can always find forgiveness in a God whose steadfast love and mercies are new every morning.  I get a second chance everyday.

You know, even Adam and Eve got a second chance, when God killed an animal to make an atonement for their sins.

Samson got a second chance.

David got a second chance.

Jonah got a second chance.

The woman caught in adultery got a second chance.

Paul got a second chance.

Peter got a second chance.

The thief on the cross got a second chance.

You and I got a second chance.  

If the Lord had come again 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, many of us would still be lost in our sins.

Some of you might ask, what about Judas Iscariot.  Why wasn’t he given a second chance?  Judas Iscariot got lots of chances. He was one of those within the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples.  He had direct interaction with the Son of God.  Yet Jesus said, “Haven’t I not chosen you, the twelve, yet one of you is a devil.”

During the Last Supper, when Jesus revealed that one of the disciples would betray him, each of the disciples asked Jesus, “Surely, not I, Lord?”   When it came to Judas’ turn, Judas asked, “Surely, not I,………. Rabbi?” (which means Teacher).  Judas probably never knew Jesus as Lord at all.

When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned as a result of his betrayal, he was remorseful and he returned the money to the chief priests and the elders, and what did he say?  “I have betrayed innocent blood…”  He did not regret betraying the Lord!  I believe if Judas had repented, the Lord would have forgiven him.  What sin is so great that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot wash away?

The great Chinese evangelist Wang Ming Dao was put in prison for his faith in Jesus Christ during the 1950's. It was reported that after going through torture and brainwashing, Wang Ming Dao renounced his faith and was released from his imprisonment. But when he was freed from prison, he was so tormented in his soul that he walked up and down the streets of Beijing for many days, crying, “My name is Peter; my name is Peter. I’ve denied my Lord.”  He went back to the authorities to withdraw his statement, and  Mao Zedong put him back into prison—this time for eighteen years. And every day in prison he would sing the hymn by Fanny Crosby,

All the way my Savior leads me;

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt his tender mercy,

Who through life has been my guide?

Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.

At first the guards tried to silence him. When they couldn’t silence him, they just put up with his singing. Gradually, as the years went by, they would gather near the opening to his cell to listen as he sang of God’s faithfulness to him. Eventually, they began to ask him to sing to them and to teach them the words of the song. Such is the impact of one who walks faithfully with God.

We may not have sinned as gravely as David with his adultery and murder; or like the woman who was caught in adultery. But, who among us has not needed at one time or another - a second chance from God?

• A second chance to do right for our parents.
• A second chance at marriage.
• A second chance after wasting our youth, our money, our talent, the opportunities that God has given us.

Let's be thankful that God is a God of second chances because we all need a second chance at one time or another in our lives.

God is not only the God of second chances, but the God of third and fourth and unlimited chances for His children who confess their faults and weaknesses and come to Him for help.

Retinal Detachment

10 March 2018

Today is one month after my surgery for retinal detachment on 9^th February, 2018.  My retina has re-attached.  The worst is over.  The doctor wants me to take it easy now for the complete healing to run its course.

As I look back, I asked myself, “Where was God in all this?”  I cannot divorce God from my bad times, and only talk about in my good times.

One very obvious reminder of His goodness during this period was His impeccable timing.  If my retinal detachment had happened during the Chinese New Year period while we were travelling to Penang and Seremban, that would have been disastrous. And it happened just when I had completed my office assignment so there was no outstanding work to be done while I was on medical leave. 

During that pre-CNY week, so many of the retinal specialists were on leave, and I managed to get Dr Ronald who was formerly the Head of the Retinal Department in Selayang Hospital, to perform the emergency operation on me.

God is always on time.  He is seldom early, but He is never late.

When I asked my surgeon what caused my retinal detachment, he answered with one word, it was my "fortune".  In other words, luck.  And that it can happen again without any warning.  I did not like that answer.  I don’t believe in luck.  But I know we live in a fallen body that is tainted by sin.  These are constant reminders of our human frailty.

Last week, I was talking to Timothy.  It is always not a good feeling knowing that there are so many things in life that you cannot control, like our health.  As the man of the house, we worry how are we going to protect and provide for our family when we are stricken down with sickness.  But God continues to show us and reassures us in many ways that He is still in control.

Timothy was sharing about how surprisingly he was able to get accepted into the Eagles dialysis centre so easily, and how two years ago he thought he got a bad deal he had a new boss, but this boss turned out to be most understanding in his current situation.  These are little assurances that He has not left us alone.

Last Friday I found out that one of the approval letters required for one of our Company’s Development Order was still not signed, and the dateline was the following Wednesday.  The current District Engineer was transferred and a new Engineer was coming in on Monday.  What are the chances that the new Engineer would sign something that was not signed by the previous Engineer, on his first day of work in his new office?  It was so frustrating that this is so out of my control.  At the same time, I was very undecided whether we should continue our planned family Bangkok trip becos I was afraid my retinal detachment might just recur…..

So I told God, please give me a reassurance that you are in control by helping me get this approval letter from the JPS (Jabatan Pengairan & Saluran - Department of Irrigation & Channels) Engineer.  How?  I don’t know.  In fact, I had always prayed that God would prosper this project that He had so placed under my watch, for His Name-sake and for His glory.

Monday morning about 10:30.  I went to JPS office.  The technician-in-charge said the new Engineer has not come in yet.  Die-lah.  Never mind I said.  I will wait until he comes.  If he comes….  So I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Then 15 minutes later, the technician came out with the approval letter.  Apparently another Engineer has signed on behalf of the new Engineer!  Like that also can…?

Sometimes God answers our prayers and give to us exceedingly far more than we can ever ask for or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)

Whatever happens to us, whether as a result of our own doing, or becos of what others did to us, the pains & sorrows of life, when we call upon God, when we seek to honour Him and to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind & strength,  He will intervene.  He will reach into our experiences both good or bad, redeem our past, and cause all things to work out for our good (Rom 8:28).

God is good.  He is always in control.

Happy New Year

30 December 2017

As we stand on the threshold of 2017, many people today will look back on what has happened for the past year and start making resolution for the next year.

Many things have happened this year.

Bandar Sunway Gospel Centre celebrated our 26^th anniversary.

Some of us had health issues…

Lily Wong had a thyroid operation

Timothy was hospitalized

Two of our members had their cataracts removed

One of our brother even had a cancer scare becos his cancer marker suddenly shot up.  Maybe one day he will give his testimony.

Some of our loved ones passed away.

My dad suffered a second stroke, so there was some anxiety in my family.

My mum had a total knee replacement.

My beliefs were also ridiculed by my “friends” last month.  After President Trump made the announcement to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, there were a lot of posting on the chat groups.  And my instructor started ridiculing the Bible saying that it is full of stories that the Christians chose to believe in.

So I started defending the historical narratives of the Bible. As I answered their questions one by one, they said that I was preaching stupidity and I was a religious nuthead.  The worst part of it was, there were other Christians in the group and they just kept silent.

So, as we welcome 2018 tomorrow, what does the new year hold?

Will our faith come under more attacks?

Will we be able to make a stand for our beliefs?

Will there be hard days ahead, financially?

Will there be days of sicknesses and other health problems?

Will there be problems in our families?

We are excited about the new year.  At the same time, we are also apprehensive.

I am reminded of an old chorus:

I know who holds the future, and He’ll guide me with His hand

With God, things don’t just happen, everything by Him is planned

So as I face tomorrow, with its problems large and small

I’ll trust the God of miracles, give to Him my all.

So, whatever may happen in 2018, I know that God is in total control.  I will trust Him, and I want the Lord Jesus Christ to be glorified in everything.

Did you know that the main theme of the entire Bible is all about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Christ is anticipated in the Old Testament

Christ is manifested in the gospels

Christ is proclaimed in the book of Acts

Christ is explained in the epistles

And Revelation awaits His return.