In Close Quarters With Covid-19

15 March 2022 Leave a comment

My brother in law Simeon Poh was infected by covid-19. He was coughing badly in my home. We tested him quickly and the ART test showed he had covid-19. We were distressed as we searched for more information, and made calls to hotlines, and looked for clinics that were open on a Sunday. When we finally went to the 24 hours clinic at Jurong Gateway nearby, Simeon went through another ART test and PCR test in the clinic. We were later told that within 24 hours we would be contacted and Simeon would be sent to a care facility. 

Ups and Downs

We waited for the call while we bought things he may need and went to his home to help him pack his clothes, medicine and other stuff. We were told he would be housed in D’ Resorts at Pasir Ris, which looked good in the pictures in the internet. By Monday 5pm he was driven there in a car. We were thankful to God that everything went smoothly. 

However, after a day at D’ Resort he was sent back at 9pm on Tuesday. My niece ART tested him and he ran positive. Why then was he sent back home? More distress. My wife made many calls and we were told to wait while they checked on what happened. The Ministry of Health hotline folks finally called, and on Wednesday he was sent to NTUC Tampines Nursing Home. Evidently, he did not know how to take his own blood pressure and temperature, record the details, and use his mobile to send it back to the nurse’s station daily. Well, he is over seventy years old and use of mobile phone cannot be taken for granted! Supposedly he was to be sent to another place but they mistakenly sent him home! 

Anyway we were thankful that he was finally sent to a nursing home and they were excellent and professional, giving us regular updates about his situation and calling us for details about his other medications. This is certainly a more suitable place for Simeon and he was settled there. 

Finally, after the few days of feeling stressed, relieved, and then stressed again, we had a breather. We thought it would be nine days from the time he was infected but we were to be surprised again! They called us on Friday and told us Simeon can go home on Saturday, even if the ART test shows positive, because he is no longer infectious by the seventh day! This was new to me! Therefore, he returned home by taxi on Saturday at 2pm with running nose and cough still evident. This seems to be the current protocol. It keeps being updated as new studies and information about omicron is received, analysed and acted upon.

Still We Are Thankful

We had no choice in this and were thankful that our government had these care centres for those who cannot manage isolation on their own for various reasons. The only payments we made were for the clinic ($10 – subsidized heavily), and taxi fare ($22) home, and the care he received in the isolation centres were free of charge. Thankful to God.

However, I received a Health Risk Notice on Thursday, 10th March. I was to stay at home and monitor my health until the final day and my final ART test on 14 March. Of course, I could go out if my ART test was negative but I did not. I did three ART tests: one before, and one when I received the notice, and one at the end. All negative.

Strangely my wife never received a notice even though she was the “closer” contact. Nevertheless, we both took the necessary restrictions seriously and we cancelled quite a number of appointments, even though our ART test were negative, knowing that people may not be comfortable, but were unable to express it. 

The stress never ends. Today I heard my nephew now has been infected….

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When Doing Nothing Does Wonders

14 March 2022 Leave a comment

I was dipping into a book titled “Soul Keeping” that Pastor Thomas gave me. John Ortberg is a gifted writer, and I must add a gifted preacher too for I had heard him live a few times. In the chapter on “The Soul Needs Rest” he writes about entering soul rest and how we can experience four cycles of grace: 1) Acceptance – to know that you are loved apart from deserving or earning it; 2) Sustenance – the need to develop habits and practices that replenish us spiritually, 3)Significance – a cycle where grace we have received flows out from us to others. This is about who we are before it is about what we do. 4) Resting in Achievement – bearing spiritual fruit by God’s grace and then resting in it. Ortberg then talked about the important practices of solitude and “doing nothing”(rest). Here is where it got me into an experiment.

“The capacity of doing nothing is actually evidence of a lot of spiritual growth. The French writer Blaise Pascal wrote centuries ago: “I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own room.” In solitude we liberate ourselves from the pressure of the world. You don’t do that by going into solitude with a list of things you want to work on. You don’t even approach solitude with the expectation that you will come away with some deep spiritual insight. It’s not about what you’re going to do; it’s about what you’re not going to do. In solitude you rest” .

(Ortberg,137,138)

“Whether with an entire day, or periods of time set aside every day, your soul needs rest. Not a change of scenery or a spiritual retreat – those are fine and may contribute to rest. But to remain healthy, our souls need solitude with no agenda, no distractions, no noise. If someone asks you what you did in your “time apart’, the correct response should be, “Nothing.” Doing nothing does wonders for the soul.” 

Ortberg,140

A Little Experiment

I was reflecting on this and asked myself, Can I idle? Do nothing. Not touch the phone. Not reach for a book or a screen. Not do anything productive, useful, helpful, purposeful. Can I let my mind idle; let my hands be free of holding anything? Can I cease fidgeting and be still? Breathe. Do nothing. I actually set a timer to one hour and tried this. I saw an empty space on the wall and almost got up to nail and hang a frame. I saw the dust on the window pane and thought of getting the Windex and a cloth from the yard to clean it. It was too quiet and I wanted to play some instrumental music. I saw my phone and wanted to look through the WhatsApp messages. It was not easy to sit in my chair and look out into the distance at the swathe of green that was once the Jurong Country Club. After a while I got fidgety and looked at the timer. The minutes moved too slowly.

Then I noticed my breathing. I noticed the sound of the KDK wall fan in the room. The wandering of my mind slowed down and I was thinking nothing in particular. Just looking into the distance and doing nothing. At the end of the hour, I realized it was not easy to do nothing and rest the soul. However, when I later read and meditated on Scriptures I found myself more alert and present to the words I read, and to the presence of the Lord. Wonderful.

For more ideas on methods of prayer go to RESOURCES

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Christ’s Finished Work: Holy Spirit

8 March 2022 Leave a comment

My experience of the Holy Spirit

My first experience of the Holy Spirit was in a Saturday meeting in a home. I cannot remember what the preacher A.M. Mathew spoke about but when he gave an invitation for those who want to follow Christ to go forward I somehow went forward, to my own surprise. On hindsight I now know it was the Spirit drawing me to Christ. In my own self, I would have been too shy to have gone forward. From that day on I had different desires. My desire for God, reading the Bible, praying and attending meetings grew and my basketball passion went limp. I helped around at home more and was more at peace and joyful. 

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

In the meetings God was moving in revival power. At that time, all I knew was that at every meeting there were inspiring testimonies, heartfelt praise and singing, lengthy doctrinal teachings, followed by weeping, repentance and prayer in tongues. I wept often, sometimes in repentance; other times, overwhelmed by sense of his presence and love. 

I asked about the speaking in tongues and someone passed me a booklet full of Bible passages and verses about the Holy Spirit organized under sub-headings comprising common questions people ask about the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues. I remembered reading the booklet over and over again, until faith got hold of me and I believed and started praying for the baptism of the Spirit and the gift of tongues. It was several weeks of prayer and seeking God until finally I was filled and spoke in tongues aloud with my church friends in a field bench between two three-storey blocks in Princess Elizabeth Estate. I was sure it caused a stir because I saw people staring at us from their windows, wondering what the loud “noise” and crying was all about. That night I continued using the gift of tongues softly till dawn. It was a day I would never forget. I was overflowing with the joy of the Lord.

Hunger For Truth and Reality of God

The presence and person of God became so real and it drew me more frequently and for longer periods into prayer and study of the Bible and reading of Christian books. I attended conferences such as the Spiritual Renewal Seminars and wrote notes and practiced what I heard. I had a deeper sense of being forgiven, loved and assurance of sonship. I became bolder in personal witnessing, sharing Christ and my testimony to strangers and distributing tracts house to house and with others in town and the esplanade after the Saturday meetings.

Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit

I learned about the gifts of the Spirit and prayed for the gift of prophecy, and began to prophesy. I also found Ithat God used me to often to preach and teach the Word. I also prayed for the gifts of healing but I was rarely used by God in this area. 

More importantly I became more aware of the companionship and faithful gentle friendship of the Spirit. He was helping me with all kinds of things and would often help me to serve the church better, giving me wisdom and abilities and the graces to do what I could not in my natural self. The Spirit transformed me little by little from the shy, introverted, insecure, anxious youth to the person I am today – and the work will continue till Jesus returns. 

No Finished Work, No Outpouring of Spirit

The person and gifts of the Holy Spirit was made available to us because of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension. Unless Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father, the Spirit would not be poured out upon all who believe in Him.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:37-39).

When Jesus spoke these words, Jesus had not yet been crucified. Jesus knew he would be glorified and taken up to the right hand of God in heaven. Then and only then would the Spirit be poured out upon everyone who trusted him. Peter preached to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:32,33).

One of God’s great blessings of Christ’s finished work is the person and gift of the Holy Spirit.

This article is part 8 of 26. To access other articles about the A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work go HERE.

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Pray for Ukraine

1 March 2022 Leave a comment

I have been upset, angry and frustrated with the developments in Ukraine from a few weeks back to today. The bullying of a smaller weaker nation by another; the betrayal of guarantees by UK, USA and Russia when Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal; the defiant and blatant invasion by a superpower of a neighbouring independent nation. I kept fretting and praying for sanity, self-control and peace. It frustrates and angers me no end at what Putin has done, and I pray for his downfall and of all evil despotic leaders. I wondered if the leaders were two women instead of two men, would there be a better chance of peace prevailing?

Last night I saw a Netflix video “Winter On Fire” about Ukraine and how at great cost the Ukrainian people’s persistent protests saw a pro-Russian president step down and leave the country, and new elections called by the parliament. I don’t fully comprehend the complexity of the political and security background but surely invading another country because you are bigger and more powerful goes against the norms of international relations. Who will be next then? The Baltic states? China invades Taiwan? From time immemorial more powerful nations expand their boundaries with no country or international body able to be act as policeman and defender of the weak and small.

“There shall be wars and rumours of wars”. “Nations will rise up against nations”. Jesus words in Matt 24 echo again and again through the corridors of history. Wars have been happening throughout time. However the frequency of wars and conflicts along tribal or ethnic and religious lines has multiplied. It does not mean we should be indifferent to them since this was predicted anyway and would happen. As believers we are blessed if we are peacemakers. And we are also called to pray for leaders of nations and for peace for all peoples so the world would be a better place. Furthermore, this would mean that the gospel can spread freely and without hindrance. “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4). So what can we pray for in this Russia-Ukraine war?

How To Pray

God to deliver Ukraine from evil invasion and to rescue this newly independent nation.

For the world leaders to have courage to do what is right, compassionate and just.

For God to step in to defend and support the weak, small and bullied.

For the church in Ukraine to be faithful as salt and light in the midst of corruption and darkness. For the largely Orthodox church to experience revival.

Try Imprecatory Prayer

We can also use an imprecatory Psalm 35 to unknot some of our anger and the sense of injustice and helplessness we feel. Change words to make them relevant to Ukraine. Example: change “me” to “Ukraine”.

1

Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me.

2 

Take up shield and armor;
    arise and come to my aid.

3 

Brandish spear and javelin
    against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
    “I am your salvation.”

4 

May those who seek my life
    be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
    be turned back in dismay.

5 

May they be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away;

6 

may their path be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

7 

Since they hid their net for me without cause
    and without cause dug a pit for me,

8 

may ruin overtake them by surprise—
    may the net they hid entangle them,
    may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

9 

Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord
    and delight in his salvation.

10 

My whole being will exclaim,
    “Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
    the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

Praying In Tongues

Those who have the gift of tongues can begin by praying, Lord I do not know what to pray for. I ask the Holy Spirit to empower me to intercede about this war as I pray in tongues. Before starting, you can set your mobile timer to five or ten minutes and pray in tongues for that time period.

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Christ’s Finished Work: Gifts of Christ

24 February 2022 Leave a comment

The Fivefold Ministry

We have heard about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts but have we heard of the gifts of Christ (also called “ascension gifts”, “fivefold gifts”), and did you know that these gifts were part of Christ’s finished work? Receiving this truth would enable us to move ourselves towards Christian maturity and the fulness of the stature of Christ.

An intriguing scripture portion in Ephesians 4 explains this. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:7,8). The background is of course that of a victorious king returning to the capital to great acclaim, with captives defeated in the battlefield in chains trailing behind him. In celebration, he shares the spoils of war with the city, even though they did not fight the battles and did not deserve any reward at all. Yet the king graciously and generously gives gifts to them. Paul however was describing how Christ gave gifts to the world, particularly the church, after he had victoriously defeated Satan, sin, and death by his death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb. These must be significant gifts for they came out of the sacrifice of his life.  What are these gifts and what purpose do they serve?

The scripture goes on to explain what these gifts are: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph4:11-13). These gifts are men and women with spiritual authority and various complementary gifts that can equip the church to do God’s will. These God-designed, holistic, complementary ministries, if welcomed in their fullness, and not partially, by the church, will bring about church effectiveness, growth, unity of faith and intimacy with God, maturity and the greater glory to God. 

The gifts of Christ are sometimes called fivefold ministry or fivefold offices, or fourfold (combining pastors and teachers into one) ministry gifts of Christ. The five are gifted people who have received grace to be used by God to bless and build the church in dimensions that complement each other to maximum impact. We need all of them.

Apostles

The apostles (“sent out ones”) are those who establish churches among unreached peoples. They evangelise the lost, equip the saints, establish the church and the doctrines, set up and equip leadership and move on to new territories. Apostles love the church and have a passion for establishing and multiplying local churches.

Prophets

The prophets forth-tell and foretell. He forth-tells in the sense of receiving God’s “now” word for God’s people and faithfully declares the fresh rhema message to them, often calling them to turn from modern forms of  idolatry to God himself. God may also grant them intimations of the future which they will deliver faithfully so the individual or church may take heed and prepare, or be encouraged, strengthened and comforted. In the last days, when the love of many will wane cold, this gift of Christ needs more recognition and acceptance. Prophets love the presence of God and are passionate about delivering the current word of the Lord to fire up the hearts of God’s people.

Evangelists

The evangelists spread everywhere the good news of Jesus Christ with convincing clarity and persuasive power to the lost. They are graced to move unsaved people to open their hearts to accept the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ. They love being with lost people and they are passionate preaching Christ and his salvation to them.

Pastors

Pastors are the shepherds (literal translation) of the church and their job is to feed the sheep, care, and watch for their souls. His number one task is to be a faithful example of faithful Christian living. He is the walking visual aid that inspires, encourages and comforts the congregation to be devoted and faithful to the Lord. He loves spending time with God’s people and is passionate about growing them in the love of God.

Teachers

Teachers love to inform, instruct, and explain the things of God using Scriptures. They love to make fundamental teachings of the Bible accessible, clear and applicable for God’s people, whatever their level of understanding. Faithfulness to the meaning of the text, and diligence to live out the truth are their bottom line. Teachers love spending time feeding on Scriptures and are passionate about communicating truth effectively.

Welcome Mat

The gifts of Christ are God’s gifted servants appointed to bring different nutrients to the body of Christ and together they impart a balanced, multi-faceted ministry the church needs for growth into the maturity and purity and beauty of the Bride of Christ, ready to be received by Christ the Bridegroom.

God is faithful and will provide these gifted people to the Body of Christ. It is for us to recognise who they are and roll out the welcome mat so the church can receive their complementary gifts with thanks, and grow in maturity.

This is the seventh in a twenty six series of A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work. Click HERE to access the earlier posts>

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