Archive for October, 2006
Today, my wife and I tidied up the storeroom. It was scary how over the months we accumulated things, and odds and ends, and just tossed or stashed them where there was any space. We somehow think we need it some day or we have no heart to discard or give it away. It was good to just clean the dust and dirt, reorganize the shelves, throw away unwanted stuff, lay aside usable and good stuff to donate to Salvation Army’s second-hand store, or for Myanmar friends. I felt dirty and sweaty but satisfied at the end of it all. I took a look at the difference and thought, It was good.
Can’t help but also add that annually we need to do the same with the activities and affections we accumulate in our lives.
October 31st, 2006
Yesterday I cleaned and reorganized my bookshelves and had lunch with Lewis Cheong, and talked about his dreams. It seems like in the second half, we become bolder and more confident.
Then it was a tennis game at night.
Felt good.
October 31st, 2006
Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth,
in a serious seeking after Thee, and in an affectionate walking with Thee,
everyday of our lives;
that when Thou comest, we may be found not hiding our talent,
not serving the flesh, nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord, our glorious King,
for ever and ever.
Richard Baxter, 1615-91
October 30th, 2006
I’ll be on leave this week. As I list the household chores I need to do- cleaning out the storeroom and cupboards, fixing shelves, some painting and general cleaning - I feel like cancelling my leave and going back to work. But if I don’t clear my leave, it will be lost.
I have always thought of wandering around Shenton Way and its vicinity. Or explore the whole Kampong Glam Arab area. Walk about lazily in T-shirt and shorts, with camera and cap, and eat the good of the land. Or maybe I should do the new Changi boardwalk and then reward myself with Singapore’s best nasi lemak at Changi Village. Coffee with friends.
I wonder if I have the time for all this?
Probably not.
October 30th, 2006
They came from wintry Alaska to enjoy sun and sea in Langkawi, Malaysia, but instead were shocked by loud banging and shouting at their doors after midnight. The Islamic religious officers, unaccompanied by police, suspected the couple of committing khalwat, which is the crime of close proximity between two people who are not married to each other. When Mr Barnhart, 62 showed them his Caucasian wife, 61, they even had the audacity to demand a look at their marriage cert. (Were they looking for a payoff?).
The intention of khalwat is to enforce purity. These officers’ task was to catch Muslims who commit fornication and adultery. They do have some powers and were meant as a deterrent to errant Muslims. The religion is strong on externals, and so the enforcement likewise is focused on the externals. However, it does not really get to the heart of the problem of lust, which is, a problem of the heart.
Jesus understood this and proclaimed the good news that the bad heart can be forgiven, healed and made good, and strengthened to resist temptation. Jesus said, “Whosoever lookeeth on a woman to lust after her hath already commited adultery with her in his heart.â€(Matt 5) In doing so he goes to the root of the matter: the heart, which can only be transformed and empowered for pure living, by the message of grace.
October 28th, 2006
I have always admired your courage and leadership as you led Malaysia as its former Prime Minister. But the respect is eroding fast as I observe your strident and divisive public spat with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
When you met up with the Prime Minister a few days back, I was hoping a meeting of minds and hearts will transpire in the spirit of Hari Raya generosity and forgiveness and a widely desired reconciliation would be reported in the news. But I was sorely disappointed.
It would be sad to see all your past achievements and the great respect it garnered for Malaysia and for yourself, fade in the haze of this disagreement over cancelled projects, mismanagement and corruption of the present government. Please do not go further down this path and let the people be the judge of the present government’s performance.
I would still like to remember you as the greatest post-independence leader of Malaysia.
Yours sincerely,
Kenny Chee
October 24th, 2006
“Haze or no haze lets go anyway!â€Â That was what I told my wife and friends. Its been too long since our last trek. About a month I think. Anyway Abe Sim was saying it was okay, having done a 20km run in MacRitchie. And he was right as six of us did the 11km route, walking and talking all the way. I must say the talking bit really helped! We hardly noticed the 3 hours it took. Also the trees kind of formed a canopy, a roof to insulate the inside of the forest from the haze above. Anyway it was around psi 80 only. I felt good and celebrated with beef brisket stew and rice, and chwee kway.
October 24th, 2006
Since the TV channels merged programs have been boring. And this Hari Raya holiday will be no different, so I am offering a comedic alternative. This is for entertainment and not edification. Its a parody of fundamentalist preaching at its worst. A preacher rants about men keeping long hair, women keeping short hair, and preachers who wear toupees. Some people are experts at majoring on minors. I am sure preachers will crack up on this one. I did. Be entertained! Click here:
http://www.sharperiron.org/downloads/Podcasts/hairology.mp3
October 23rd, 2006
“A local pastor was asked to leave a church after advocating that the faithful give their maid a Sunday off as it is a day of restâ€. So wrote a Frances Ong Hock Lin, an educator and mother of six in an article about maids in Singapore which she contributed in the Today freepaper (17 Oct).
Now I can understand if a pastor gets sacked for fraud, adultery, or spreading heresy, but for preaching the uncomfortable truth? This is rare. But then again, John the Baptist lost his head when he preached the truth in love. And so did Jesus. So taking the story as it is, with its limited facts, that pastor deserves our admiration, and that church didn’t deserve a pastor as faithful as he. By the way I do speak about that as well but not devoting a whole sermon to it. (Maybe that’s why I have not been sacked.) I feel if God has compassion on maidservants and animals enough to require the Law of Moses to clearly legislate a rest day on the sabbath for them, we Christians should follow suit. Unless the maid sincerely and for some reason doesn’t want to.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.†(Exodus 20:8)
October 21st, 2006
I was with Gerald in Bukit Timah EFC for a short while. Then he visited us and I met up with him when our church was experiencing revival and he was with the Tabernacle. Next it was in Trinity Theological College where we met and talked about his thesis on the tabernacle. While my family were in ICU he and pastor Bennett prayed for my wife and twins. He also spoke at our church prayer meeting.
Gerald was an Anglican priest who was very talented, intelligent and very focused. He had a heart for the Thai people and wanted to reach and disciple them. He was forthright and straigtforward, no beating around the bush, tell it like it is kind of guy. I respected him. And God used him wonderfully in Bangkok to establish an Anglican church in the heart of the city. I remember he had a son Joshua whom we once saw carrying a big Bible around as a little boy, and I heard when he grew up, he went to Bible school.
However, the Lord took Gerald home quite suddenly about two years ago, and I was shocked when I heard it, and felt a gaping hole has been left in the Thailand church, as he was gathering and uniting the churches in Bangkok to reach the Thais for Christ. That was a sad day as he was doing very well and was even appointed an archdeacon there. But the Lord is too wise to make a mistake and too good to intend evil. We do not understand why, but we just have to trust Him and His ways.
And we can celebrate a man of God who lived well and made an impact of eternal significance.
Recently, I have been thinking, of a way for full-time Christian workers who have gone home to Lord, like Gerald and my pastor Johney, to have some kind of memorial in cyberspace, so that though dead, their life can still inspire others, a kind of on-going Hebrews 11 on the internet, where loved ones can add in their heroes of faith, and people who know them can add their comments.
October 20th, 2006
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