Whispers on the Journey

Earlier this year, during the lead-up to Easter, I received a text from an ex-student from the class of 2021 who had joined the young adult cell I am helping out at, “Me and PT are praying for the cell thing, you’re on my list for tmr! Pls lmk how i can pray for you…” I first bumped into this ex-student when I found her crying near the music room over an audition. Never in a million years could I foresee this happening. In her words, “it’s almost like the roles are swapped.” At that time, I felt richly blessed, and utterly amazed by how God works.  I did not make much of that incident, except to remark to my wife that it was the second ex-student whom God had sent to surprise me.  Last year, I invited another ex-student whom I taught in 2008 to attend my cell group. I happened to share about the upcoming move to a new school and how uncertain I felt. The ex-student offered to pray for me, and I felt very touched. It was as if God understood caregiver fatigue, and was sending t...

  I’ve been contemplating my decision to move out of Cedar for almost a year. Is this the right timing, and am I going to the right place? A previous negative experience kept gnawing at me every now and then, and I wasn’t completely at peace. It didn’t help that the last half a year at Cedar was absolutely wonderful, leaving me wondering if I should have stayed longer.  God finally spoke to me during church camp. Much as I have been doing well and have been effective where I am, things are becoming “automatic”. Where I used to pray instinctively because I wasn’t entirely sure how to get through to a student, I have been more prone to rely on my experience as a first response, before going to God, if at all. When we are doing well, when we are in our comfort zone, it is easy for God to drop out of the picture, and we risk spiritual stagnation.  In the comfort of the garden of Eden, lacking nothing, Adam and Even fell. In the safety of Pharoah’s court, Moses committed murde...

  Singaporeans are quite good at complaining. It's almost like a national pastime. But I suspect we have another national obsession that we may not want to admit. Many of us are also very prone to comparing. Unlike complaining though, comparing is less socially acceptable these days, no matter what form it takes. So much of the comparing we do is done quietly in our own heads, or even subconsciously without us realising. We may be happy with our jobs one moment, but when we meet a friend who is earning a better living, a thought enters our heads that maybe we need to make more money. A student may be glad that she received a certain grade, a hard-earned improvement. But the joy may be eroded the moment she finds out that her score is below average. Such is our propensity to compare that the reverse also takes place. We complain about cost of living in Singapore, that everything is so expensive. But the moment we cross the causeway, we spend like no tomorrow and feel like a million ...

Luke 22:63-65 and 23:33-34 NIV The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other insulting things to him...When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Whenever some inconceivable violence or injustice take place, I'll always think about how as Christians, we're called to forgive. Last week was no different when the knife attack took place at a local Catholic church. But what struck me totally unexpectedly was Rev Christopher Lee's response. Despite suffering an 8cm laceration on his tongue, a 3cm cut on his upper left lip and a 4cm cut on the corner of his mouth, Rev Christopher Lee spoke of forgiveness when Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan visi...