true trIumpH

Who can we trust?
Where are the real victories?

Politicians flip what they say, especially on a campaign trail. The media has been shown up for their biases. Religious leaders reveal shocking political positions. Who do we trust?

The Democrats are in despair, while the Republicans are celebrating a restoration of historic constitutional values. Meanwhile, real people are already feeling the effects: just recently, we read of christian business owners who sometimes closed their shops because of the effects of a Supreme Court decision. Yet in recent months, we are also hearing stories of children and women feeling unsafe as they are being taunted because of a licence given to another form of 'freedom' (or superiority). What is considered victory?


What must we learn from the recent election - that God is calling his people to?

1. we are all trumpets

I am afraid we are all racist, xenophobes, biased and frightfully insecure in our own ways about different things. We all operate at some level with stereotypes. But we were able to live and let live. We were able to know without so many words that all human community and convention is best not over-analysed. Life is to be lived, not yelled at.

Here in Singapore, we grew up with silly jokes about each other. Let's be honest, we told racist jokes, we beleaguer our government, we complain about everything. Yet we knew there was a line we did not cross. Rarely did we mean ill. We saw each other as equally tried and challenged by the realities of life, even though we will envy the rich (and equally make stereotypical jokes about them too).

The internet however, has made it way too easy for us to confuse our need for self-broadcast with mindless spewing of personal opinions, often without regard for its consequence. Love thy neighbour seems not to apply online.

Recently I even learnt a new word from friends, kolaveri. It's meant to be a friendly tease, used among Tamil youths to indicate that the cranky person should back off. Its literal meaning is murderous rage, which we are seeing plenty of these days alas.

Our human desire for an audience drives us to jump in on all the confusing stuff flying around, often without careful and prayerful thought. Christians are going, "XX endorses the candidate" as if XX is God speaking, and we send echoes reverberating.

"Be slow to speak (type/share/like), slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."  ~ James 1v19 

is probably the needful application of biblical wisdom here.

James is not saying there isn't a place for indignation that issues in actions for justice. But he very honestly shows us the shadows in our hearts and calls us to rein in our speech and our strong emotions. We just don't so easily know God's right way in any given situation, especially one as complex as this... yet -

2. we are all truth-bearers

Each of us bear witness to truth. We all bear witness to our particular story and the truths found there. We all contribute to the larger story and the truths we will uphold together.

From the American dream to the Singapore Home, the rhetoric is always about things getting better. Understandably, leadership calls for the need to cast a vision of hope. The reality for many however is looking and feeling dreadfully grim. And we are not surprised if we read our Bibles.

Yet the human heart always will need these few things: faith, hope, love.  We will differ on where we find it, experience it and express it.

The young gay man and his straight friend both need love. We all bear witness to these needs. I want to tell those who disagree it is alright. I also want to tell them that when they are vicious in their words, it hurts, for they, and our relationship matter to me. My friends are not a bunch of opinions. They are real beings with real hearts and real needs.

There is one truth that can bring us together, if we are willing. The story that unites us all. It is the honest admission that every one of us have dreams, we carry wounds, and we are capable of wounding. It is the story we all belong to: imago Dei and the Fall.

This is the story that Christians must live and tell, well.

We do better to spend our time doing these: dreaming, healing and serving.

"For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth" ~ 1 Corinthians 13v8

3. we are all tired and being tried

The earth is heating up, and the world is longing for renewal. We have exhausted many avenues for change. But there will always be fighters, warriors, dreamers and leaders because God loves us. There will be a cataclysmic end, but it is so wrong for us to get judgmental simply because there is a Judgment coming. 

Wishing judgment upon any nation, people or group reveals more about your heart than theirs. I believe it breaks God's heart. When we turn to our cliches that 'God is on the throne', let us be sure He is on our thrones in our secret hearts.

Wishing judgment exposes what is going us in us. We are blaming our woes on others. I have been there. I was angry with American entertainment for tainting our marriages, homes, youths and children. I was mad and disappointed at leaders for failing to stand up for the weak. I was upset with Wall Street and the White House.

But I clearly see that I did not care enough to pray properly in a sustained fashion for a world that is reeling. When I began to, my heart changed. Clinton, Obama, Miley Cyrus... every one needs prayer.

GK Chesterton's reproach is apt here:

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.

It is time for us to try and go about it all very differently.

Beware what we share and spread.

Become clear what we believe.

Be first a pray-er than a proclaimer.

Who can we trust? 
Christians, we must trust each other. We won't be at the same place in maturity and conviction. But let us start at the point of trust, allowing others to speak their wisdom and share their stories. We must learn to rebuild trust and not contribute to any unnecessary breakage.

In trusting each other, we honour God and trust Him as He has promised to never leave nor forsake us. In trusting each other, we make room for growth and transformation, partnerships and new possibilities because the Holy Spirit in us will lead us into all truth.

Where are the real victories?
More than any time in human history, we risk anarchy and the rule of the demagogue. More than any time in human history, ancient and traditional familial lines and community loyalties are being challenged.
When we can create a society and communities where there is faith, hope and love, so that the truth of God and His amazing love is not obfuscated, we showcase the victory of the Cross that reconciles, heals, and unites. We represent the nature and desire of God. This is victory, and one that truly lasts.

Let's shoot for real, true triumphs!

here's great, thoughtful, music to help us get there:Andrew Peterson's The Burning Edge of Dawn

all images from: http://politicschatter.com/politics-talk/slideshow/best-photos-2016-campaign-trail/

Why doesn't God rescue us?

She sounded urgent. When she finally arrived in my dorm room, her face told me she was troubled. Then she told me that she was nearly date raped. He was a Christian guy she had met on campus. She was a very young believer herself and thought it was only right to go out with a fellow Christian. Through teary eyes, she asked me, "Why didn't God stop it? Why didn't He rescue me?".

I had no answer for her. She was the star student, extremely beautiful and of a gentle, quiet disposition. She would never have baited him. I hardly knew the guy and my thoughts turned towards vitriol for him.

Why would a good God let a nice girl like her end up with a trauma like this? She certainly didn't deserve it. I had no answer.

This was nearly thirty years ago.

But daily as we are bombarded by tough stuff, witness outrageous evil, see senseless violence, hear and read of the sacrifice of children to neglect, greed, injustice and oppression; we are all hoping, and wondering why God doesn't act to stop any of it.

Chernobyl, taken off Telegraph.co.uk

Just last month, I came to know of this prominent Christian businessman and leader's teen daughter who was gang raped when their home was burglared. Even as an adult, married with children, she tears up as she shares about it.

There are some things we will never forget.


To be sure, it could become her story - the girl who was raped. But her story was larger than that. It could become the headline that would hog and overshadow everything else about her; she could go through life forever broken, limping, and aching over it - fearful of men, dreading her future, hiding from God, herself and others. But it didn't.

Thankfully, it didn't for my girlfriend too. She too married and has a beautiful daughter.

Perhaps, God did rescue them.


I remember once when I was in anguish over some losses in my life. I heard God say to me that I had to walk through it. Then I saw this picture of a helicopter lowering a ladder to rescue someone from the top of a roof as a fierce deluge raged on all around. God contrasted it for me: I felt I was drowning and I desperately wanted to be airlifted out of my situation. But God said to go through it. I cried some more....until I realised that God was saying also that it will not last forever. I just needed to be brave, to soldier on; not avoid or wish it away. And then these familiar words:

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For You are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me." ~ Psalm 23

Strength and courage comes when we stop fleeing and turn to face what's before us.

There is such a thing called The . Necessary . Journey. It is the months or years we must endure in order to grow up:

1. we become aware of how naive we are

Just to assume that a person has the label "christian", "leader", "popular" means they are desirable, suitable or safe is plain naive. Persons are complex. We have to take time to know them.
Equally we can be naive about ourselves. Some of us will refuse to admit to our weaknesses and demons properly. We say it lightly and glibly and allow it to lurk around. They will take us down; we must be brave to face it. We must admit to how much we fear peer pressure, desire attention, compromise our ethics or values. Without a true admission and a devotion to go the other way, we may set ourselves up for a weak faith and life.

Truth and authenticity happens when we accept who we are and admit that we need to grow.

2. we see the world with clearer eyes

When I first read Hobbes' take that life is "brutish and short" I recoiled at it. But time has proven that philosopher quite right. Our brightest and best moments are fleeting. Some opportunities won't knock twice. We are incapable of making perfect decisions. Others have their own reasons, hurts and distortions though which they view life.
Equally, life shimmers with a strange light as each new day dawns. Often, our worst nightmares don't materialize. Strangers show us kindness. Hobbes got it half right then. There is Grace, there are miracles, there will be surprises.

Hope and Persistence grows within us when we realize that we can stand on Grace.

3. we make the defining choice of what to base our lives on
Everything can turn in so many ways. Change is always possible. A new trajectory or the old one with a wholly different outlook. We can choose trust, faith, rising up again. Or we can run, hide, cower, blame. We can be honest, brave, real or fake it.
We can turn to God and depend on Him or continue to try to make it on our own. The direction, colour, texture, and message of our lives emerges out of this most critical of all decisions.

Meaning and Purpose, Security and Generosity develops and impacts others as we continually renew our trust in God.


I still ask God sometimes, "just do something!".
And sometimes He asks me back, "what would you like to do about it?".

God still asks the best questions.

today, my children's names remind me of greater things

There is this conversation Jesus had with a woman of questionable repute. As the man, Jesus starts the conversation off (because if he didn't, it would not happen because women back then were basically second class or even property).

If I may, this is sorta how it went:

J (very tired): Will you give me a drink?
W: What? Are you crazy? You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan*. We don't get along remember? How can you break the rules?  

J: If you can see past all that, you will know I can give you a drink that truly settles your life's thirst.
W (eyes J carefully): hey, how you plan to get water, you didn't bring a bucket. This well was dug centuries ago by Jacob. Our ancestors drank from it. Are you greater than them? 

J: this water relieves thirst but doesn't satisfy and overflow from your life.
W: sounds good, Give me some, coming here is really a lot of work. 

J: Go call your husband.
W: I have no husband! 

J (smiles gently): you are accurate here. You have had five husbands. The man you are with now is not a husband.
W: You can tell... some sort of prophet huh? Then answer me, who is right? Where is the right place to worship God? Did the Jews or the Samaritans get it right? 

J: The place is no longer the issue. Listen, salvation will come through the Jews as God planned; but it's for everyone. God the Father is Spirit so those who worship him must do so in spirit and in truth.

Fifteen years ago, we talked about having children. The hubs was not keen; but I was pretty set on the wonders of having children and very excited about being a mother. We agreed that he would take some time to pray about it. He came back with a rather nervous demeanour but conceded that children are accorded worth, purpose and glory in the Bible. Our baby girl was conceived the following month.

The point that Jesus made in that conversation captivated me. Many of us by then are pretty jaded about where the world is headed; and not a few friends have sworn off having children. But there is this: there is a group who seeks and responds to God - and they do so not depending on tradition but by being animated by spirit and truth.

I am a huge fan of tradition in many ways; and call people to return to a historic, tested faith. But there is also this: every generation will have challenges that must be confronted and it requires a move of the Spirit that emboldens and an anchorage in the Truth so they won't get swept off their feet.

My firstborn bears the middle name Spirit-of-God ~רוח אלוהים
Six years later, the son enters the world with theTruth enfolded in the middle of his name ~אמת

People name their children for many reasons:
popularity of the name
in honour of family members
expressing aspirations
a sense of the child's destiny

These middle names I felt inspired to include were more like a proclamation. I wanted to shout out: Spirit and Truth!

Interestingly, many days, these two Hebrew words shout back at me, holding me up against the Light~

are you guided by the Holy Spirit or relying on your own past experiences and success?
are you seriously seeking the truth or will you get lazy nd gloss over stuff?

I never get past these questions. Even now. I need to prepare talks and sermons. I mentor. I need to make decisions and respond to the decisions others make. Will it be in Spirit and Truth?

The thing about growing older is you lose confidence in the right places.

When I was younger, I said, "Lord, lead me in Spirit and Truth!" because I didn't know very much anyway, so I needed to be led; and honestly I did not see much of what was coming!

Now, I cry out, "Lord, blanket, build, bolster, barricade me..." for I know much more; and it's mostly about how easy it is to stray into Self and falsehood. 

I guess the real stuff becomes all the more precious when you see how frequently the counterfeits are traded around, when you have hurt and been hurt because the Spirit and the Truth were absent.

Perhaps lift a prayer for me please: I am feeling a great need to remain in, dig deeper, be defined - by Spirit and Truth.

You too? Share with me in the comments so I can pray for you too.

*the story is found in the Bible in John chapter 4. A Samaritan is part-Jew so rejcted by the pedigree Jews.

Journey to the never-dried-up well: a personal invitation

A personal invitation

Dear friend,

As a pastor-writer, my desire is to use words to build you up. Even as the dry spell persists around us, it reminds me of how much we need water, Living Water. Many of us long for a deeper refreshing, one that will affect us permanently. We want to experience the promise Jesus gave the woman at the well, that springs of water will well up and flow forth from us (John 4v13).

If this is your longing, I want to invite you to join me on a 40-day journey to reach that never-ever-dried up well.

Every five days, there will be a short reading and a reflection that I will post on my blog. You can bookmark and remind yourself to look it up or even easier, simply submit your email and it will be sent right to your inbox!  Other ways are available at the bottom of each post.
For those who prefer print, I suggest that you print it out so that you can refer to it.

It is a journey that I pray will lead us to more of the following –

more of the Word

I will be writing the reflections based on Scripture. You will need to read the scripture and let it sink it over the few days. This is a great way to know the Word better, deeper.

more of the truth

As you look over the reflections and let the Holy Spirit of truth lead you, God will take your hand to look at your life through his eyes. It will be 40 days of coming to know yourself better – through God’s eyes of love, compassion and freedom-bringing truth.

more of God's people

We are all encouraged by fellow travelers; so may I urge you to write short notes in the comment. Sometimes a comment by a fellow Christian can really lift us up. This way you will also realize that there are others on this journey too.

This journey will begin on March 10^th, part of the season of Lent – a 40 day period when Christians everywhere seek to be more sensitive to God and yield their lives to Him afresh. The Scripture reading and reflection will plow the soil of our hearts so that we can experience the meaning and power of Easter – the cornerstone of our faith – in a marvelous new way.

As an expression of this desire, a fast is often included in the journey. Fasting is not deprivation; rather, it is a proclamation of what we truly need to live. So if we fast from TV or desserts, we do so to so that these are not needful for our lives. Instead, we turn our hunger to Him, who alone feeds us in the truest and deepest sense.

Well, dear friend, I hope to see you on this journey!

and now, a song .. ..for music stirs our souls..

For more on fasting and Lent, consider Julia’s simple write-up :

http://www.christianitytoday.com/amyjuliabecker/2014/february/in-defense-of-lent.html

those cute minions..

We've all seen them. These guys are in-season, so they are everywhere: wallpaper, cakes. lanterns...

i'm no movie person but when my children were watching Despicable Me, and laughing; i had to go join them.

Sometimes, my family thinks i'm too austere and hard on a little 'entertainment'. But it is also clear to them that I am the 'crank-up-the-fun-o-meter' in the home person. It's clear that I love fun, funny, happy. So yes, they're a little mystified.

When i was a teen, i wanted so much to be fun and funny, at one point i had a notebook where i collected jokes. Thankfully, i'm not very persevering back then....or it may be me doing Comedy night!

So fun has always coursed in my vessels.

But, i-am-careful, even a tad skeptical of  'entertainment'. Why? Because as far as I am informed; this world is not neutral ground. Every inch is value-laden. There is no moral high ground; there's just ground; the ground of our being -- and whatever our religious persuasions; there are lines we won't cross, and evil is real.

So, i am alert. Darkness seems to have a way of winning the day without anyone noticing it. It creeps into our consciousness, comforts and culture slowly and persistently until we wake up and the world seemed changed! When did divorce, pre-marital sex, gun ownership, terrorism become common-place? While we were snoozing. Like the waves that lap slowly and changes the shoreline.

Today, we have to deal with so much violence within, between and among us.

Since most of us feed upon a popular media diet; we must ask what has been on the menu?

Have we become more accepting of evil, violence, fragmentation?
Are we unable now to resist because we have not built the muscles that can swim against the tide?

So what's the deal with Despicable Me?  i found it laugh-out loud funny. The minions were so clueless and adorable. The movie's quite clear subtext is what i surfaced with the kids:
Why was he bad? -- "coz his mom ignored him; he's an angry person"
Do people become bad and then good? -- "in their actions they can choose"
Who is your fav character, why? -- "the lil kids! they were powerful, they changed his life"

There's good stuff to be mined. {cultivating a questioning spirit not a cynical one is what we're after}
#We all impact others.
#We should seek to be well so badness doesn't root in us.

Then we revisit the Great Story...and we tracked to this: God is not after us being kinda good people. God is after our heart, for everything flows from it.

But i linger on.. we laugh at the exaggerated number of weapons used to defend one's fort. We are drawn to the possibility of love and dreams when the orphaned gals enter the scene. We weep quietly to find the bad guy grew up rejected. Those are serious themes!
Do we see threat all around and find it hard to trust?
Do we consider that life may turn out very differently because of...children?
Do we have roots of rejection that we need to pluck up and clear out?

Sadly, in a way, the 'heroes' of our imagination are the cutesy minions; the clueless ones. They are the ones who make the merchandise, and sing the music! The minions are cute; but let's be careful we don't end up minions serving changes that will take us down further.

"If we're spiritual beings, then it is the spirit of things that get to us & linger on to shape us"

~ jenni tweets ~

Helpful review sites:

Christianity Today movie review

music, movie, game reviews

Truth Lies in Both Extremes...

We stood beside each other, lightly grasping the hand rail and placed one leg each on the cement embankment that ran along the corridor of the sociology department. I turned to my professor and said to him, “truth lies in both extremes”.  He thought for a while, smiled, turned to face me and said, “I can see that…”. I stumbled to think of all those examples that had surprised me on my long bus rides when thoughts visit from who knows where.

My professor did not seem totally convinced, and my mind had gone blank. The august moment to impress my professor thus snatched from so congenial a setting; we ended our conversation on a few banal notes about student life.

But like the waves that lap at the shores, I continue to have those moments where it seems a hand passes over and suddenly one of those ‘truth lies in both extremes’ haunches lies before my mind’s eye again; and what I was preoccupied with fades for the moment. Many such moments have solidified a bedrock conviction within me: it’s not just black or white and it’s not about shades of gray. It’s a whole different colour when it comes to truth!  Black, white and gray are the ways we see it.

Paradox sounds a big, bully of a word. But perhaps if I say: #1 people change, people don’t change
#2 the world is better today, the world is worse off today
#3 Salvation is both God and us – He is the one that saves, we are the one that responds
#4 we love and hate the same people

 You would agree these statements hold truth. 

I was talking to an intelligent young man, an engineering PhD student who was struggling as his mind would heap arguments on one end of the see-saw and then counter those arguments with another set promptly seated on the opposite end. He was stuck in his logical arraignment. So I suggested the paradox – and that the answer he needed was to have courage to embrace both ends of the see-saw and recognize that living is risk-taking.

Yes, it would be very neat to have things one way or another. But that’s simply not reflective of reality. Truth calls us to us and Wisdom sings her song but we don’t hear. We would rather have it flat-lined, neatly pigeon-holed and yes, fixed. -- That’s okay with things.
 But once people get into the mix, is it enough to just fix things? 

Can the human heart be fixed? 

Can love be wrapped in a gift box? Can sorrow be explained? 

Can trouble not bring good? 

Can fortune not bring foreboding?

# The Cross was utter defeat and ultimate victory.

 And if you want to live, and in particular, to live as a Christian; 

then you are a person of this Cross.

Contradiction = statement containing elements that are logically disagree

Paradox = statement that at first seems contradictory but upon investigation prove true

So in fact, then, to live life is to come to terms with, accept and learn how to be skillful in paradoxical tensions. It has been said that maturity is about being able to accept tensions.

Children begin with black and white. It’s a needful first start. But we will be naïve and childish to stay there. The colour of maturity comes as we discover the amazing palette of life; in particular our own lives and how the colours come together. We must then shed our bi-chrome existence for what is deeper and truer.

# rest in labour, labour in recreation –

where we learn to work meaningfully trusting in the value of the work in itself and where we allow our recreation to be a genuine life-renewing process which requires work at examination, reflection, gathering memories and noting markers..

-which is a gift and possibility for the Christian who trusts in a God who designed us to labour and rest to a Spirit-led and enabled rhythm.

Will we one day transcend the way of paradox? If paradox is a result of the interleaving of dark and light; then I hope that when the curtain is finally fully parted; we would be past this tension. But then, what would be of all this life-training to think and live set us up for? I just fell prey to easy answers again!

Paradox calls us to slow, wait, listen, consider. We must resist quick answers, we need to contemplate, to trust. In the end, I don’t know if the way of paradox will persist; but how we have been touched and changed by it surely will.

Each week or other, i want to share goodies i have found among the many wonderful folks in the online community that desire Truth, Beauty and Love*

For today, here is Simple Mom's Ten Ways to Use your Creativity for good.

http://simplemom.net/ten-ways-to-use-your-creativity-for-good/

Enjoy and let's bring our families and His Goodness to the world!

* this is also a facebook page you may want to visit and contribute to!

Tripping Point

Many have read Malcolm's bestseller Tipping Point...very potent observation about life. It is true: life is made up of moments and the momentous - the one leading to, defining and blending in to the other.
There is one other way to see it too. i call it the Tripping Point.
This is the way we think that trips us up again and again..so we make very little real progress...
Some common TPs are:

someone we cannot forgive
a memory we cannot let go of
an experience we use to define life
stupid thought connections because we are hurt and in pain
bad habits

I have become very aware of these TPs in my life these past two years. i resented their exposure at first (thankfully it's a personal disclosure direct from Him) ..but hey who am i kidding? my kids, spouse and probably a few girlfriends can see me tripping up.....again!

Getting past these TPs?
1. recognise them
2. accept them but dont let them define you or your future
3. get help to respond to them in real time, quick time - a verse from the Bible plastered on your screens (of mind, mobile and mirror), a friendly once-a-month coffee date to check in, pulling back being quiet to face the truth, not running too fast!

Let me hear from you please.

For a steady walk and graceful gait!

OVERHEATED PROCESSING
o boy
what a week..i did everything but write. not too good at all. so at least, before the week is over, here i am trying to write something!! this is very serious as i have two major datelines up which are totally ambitious...but in case you think i've been a major lump of inertia; i assure you not.
this week i had to process major thoughts and feelings relating to a major decision plus i am fed-up enough of our young people being preyed on and having their lives expended on surface issues aka consumer agenda; i have been thinking of forming either (1) a think tank to brin gback beauty, truth and wonder into all levels of society (2) a mutli-racial n religious group to combat advertising that is insulting to intellignce, offensive to moral sensitivites and degrading to men and women by reducing us to a bundle of nerves.

want to join me? sign up right here!

on gaiety

I signed the petition to retain the penal code. Why? because of what it stands for. those who argue for the law to be repealed insist that from pactical reality; such a law is obsolete. True, criminalising something does not make it go away. Plus we do have the challenge of enforcement.
But wait! Should the law and media only reflect reality? Should they not also hold up an ideal for society to aspire towards? perhaps it is to our common loss that some things have become obsolete?
If push comes to shove, can we be honest that some of us want to dream and pursue wholeness while others prefer to operate at a more material level?
The fact is, when we pare the law down to the material level, we have done total injustice to an entire segment of humankind! We have denied ourselves the freedom to dream and long for perfection, beauty, harmony, and truth. How can that serve humanity well in the long view? [actually behind this whole let the law reflect what is happening is a way of thinking that what is, is best - a highly unstable position to assume if you knew the second law of thermodynamics]

Further, there is place for mutual and deepening understanding; if we give it a chance. There are gays who also want to pursue a more idealised state of life with covenantal faithfulness. I am married and find this whole till-death-do-us-part deal no piece of fruit cake. We can sit down and talk about what we desire in common: being faithful; why we find it a challenge and how we plan to make it through.

Keep the law, it's there for an august purpose. Live your life; but be honest and serious about what you are pursuing and be open to hear, learn and change.