Soo-Inn Tan

Graceworks Mail 35/10. Commentary: Should I Or Should I Not?

2010-09-07T01:57:59Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 35/10
September 3, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Should I Or Should I Not?
By Soo-Inn Tan

Recently I was asked to consider teaching a seminary course on "Discerning God's Will: Biblical Principles for Christian Decision Making." Not yet sure what I should do. Having been in church related work for almost thirty years now means I have taught on this subject many times. Discerning God's will is in many ways a modern topic. Usually when folks are concerned about how to discover God's will they are facing decisions like: Is this the person I should marry?" "What course of study should I do?" "Should I take this job?" "Should I emigrate to another country?" Most folks in biblical times didn't need to struggle with such questions. For work, you would take up the family profession. For example, if your father was a farmer, you were a farmer. Marriages were arranged. And you normally didn't move to another country unless you were driven out of your own by natural calamities or war. I doubt that there would have been a big market for a course on discerning God's will in bi
blical times. And that may explain why there are no passages in the bible that expound on a process for seeking God's will.

In today's world however, many of us have the luxury and the responsibility of a personal choice in many areas of life. And if we are serious about our faith, we want to live lives of obedience, making choices that are in line with God's will. However we still have to come to terms with the fact that no bible passage teaches explicitly on the topic. We need to put together models for discerning God's will that draw on biblical principles. Existing models range from highly rational ones that discourages one from any sort of direct leading from the Lord, models where all we need to do is apply biblical principles to the decisions we have to make --- to models where we can hear clearly and concretely from the Holy Spirit all the time.

My own model incorporates elements of both. We need to apply biblical wisdom to the decisions we have to make. Indeed I would suggest that many decisions fall under this category. Yet there are also times when the still small voice guides us. I don't think it is "either-or." Any biblical model of discerning the mind of God must take seriously both the "wisdom" and the "prophetic" dimensions in decision-making. And there is always the need to take seriously the community when we seek the Lord. We all have blind spots and are more prone to substituting our voice for God's voice than we realise. We are safer when we listen together with others.

In more recent times however, I have moved away from focusing on a method to discerning God's will, to trusting in God Himself. Indeed through the years I have warned those that I teach that the goal of any decision making process is not to try to find a system that ensures you never make mistakes, but to rely on a God of grace who will guide you and teach you even when you make mistakes. I point folks to verses like Psalms 37:23-24:

The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.
Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong,
for the Lord holds his hand.
(NET)

God's will is not a tight rope where I walk alone, and where mistakes in discernment are fatal. If it were, I would live my life in fear, always searching for the perfect formula for discovering God's will so I won't make any mistakes. Instead I see life as a road. I walk this road holding my Father's hand. He speaks to me and guides me. I grow in my ability to hear His voice. Sometimes I get it wrong but Abba has a firm hold on me so that I do not fall headlong. He helps me clean up my mess. He helps me learn from my mistakes so that I can better hear Him in future. I still have guidelines for discerning the mind of God in the decisions I have to make. But I have come to a point in my life where more and more, my ultimate trust is in my heavenly Father, and not in a method. In the words of Rose Mary Dougherty:

[Sometimes, though, we forget what we have learned from love. We revert to asking ourselves like: "How can I be sure that I am doing God's will? How do I know that what I discern is really what God wants and not just what I want? How can I be sure I will make the right decision?" We may then look for processes that will guarantee the rightness of our decisions.

There is no human process that can protect us from mistakes and failures. We will never really be sure of the right course of action. As long as we are human and dealing with other human beings, we will be subject to uncertainty and ambiguity in our motives. We can. However, open ourselves to God in the uncertainty, in the ambiguity, and allow the compulsion for rightness to be transformed into an openness to responsible love. (Group Spiritual Direction, Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1995, 30.)]

I am not suggesting that we do not attempt to discern God's will. (Lord, should I teach the course on discerning your will?) I am saying that my ultimate hope is not in any method of discerning His will or even in my conclusions of what that may be. My ultimate hope is in God Himself.

=========================
Ministering this weekend

September 12, Sunday
Mt Hermon Bible-Presbyterian Church
Missions Sunday
"Six Ways Christians Can Impact Society" (Mt 5:13-16)
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
10 Choa Chu Kang St 52
#01-05, Singapore 689284

==============================

Course on Spiritual Mentoring

I have the privilege of teaching the following course. The topic is one that I care deeply about. Hope you can join me.

BIBLICAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
SPIRITUAL MENTORING: THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS
AT372, 1.5 CREDITS
Adjunct Lecturer: Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn

Day/Time : Year 2010, Wednesdays, 7.15-9.45pm
Dates : Oct 20, 27; Nov 3, 10, 24
Venue : Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church
77 Prinsep Street Singapore 188649
Tel: 62276815 (BGST)
Fees : $165 (for credit); $115 (by audit)

For more information please contact BGST
Address: 37 Jalan Pemimpin, #06-05 Block B,
Union Industrial Building, Singapore 577177.
Telephone: 65-6227-6815 | Fax: 65-6255-3686
Email: bgst@pacific.net.sg | Website: http://www.bgst.edu.sg

=================================
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Graceworks Mail 34/10. Commentary: Safe in the Arms of Jesus

2010-08-29T06:00:00Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 34/10
August 27, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Safe in the Arms of Jesus
By Soo-Inn Tan

"I am safe in the arms of Jesus. When my time comes I am not afraid."

Went to visit an aunt last Thursday (Aug 26). She is 96 and living in a nursing home in Toronto. The first thing she told us (in Cantonese) was that she was safe in the arms of Jesus and that when the time came for her to go she was not afraid. We were in Toronto on our way to Peterborough to help son Andrew start school in Trent University. This aunt is the wife of my mother's elder brother. Uncle and aunt were from Hong Kong and had spent some time in Malaysia as church planters. My uncle died some years ago. She lost her only son to pancreatic cancer two years ago. (I still miss my cousin very much.) Because of her health needs she now lives in a nursing home.

Andrew had never met her before. It was important that he did, especially at this key transition in his life. And of course Bernice and I wanted to see her. Toronto is hardly around the corner from Bukit Timah. As we grow older, we begin to lose people. You want to savour the moments you have. You want to tell them how precious they are. If we are all made in the image of God, then we are always precious at all chapters of life. In an increasingly utilitarian world, celebrating the value of all people is counter cultural. And right.

When we entered the room, we got a whiff of the smell of urine. There were three occupants in a room meant for four. Sophia, my cousin's widow who had brought us there, told us that my aunt was on a waiting list for a better facility. They were grateful for what they could get. My aunt looked small and fragile. Sophia said she looked better than she had looked for a while. At first my aunt didn't seem to recognise Bernice and me. After all it had been three years since we last saw her. In fact we were warned that there was no guarantee that she would recognise us.

Her first and immediate response was her declaration of the fact that she was safe in the hands of the Lord and that she didn't fear death. This reality must have loomed so large in her heart that it spills out at the slightest opportunity. But soon recognition came. She knew who we were. She remembered that we lived in KL. (We had moved to Singapore since.) She knew we were in Christian ministry. She thought we ran a bookstore. We run a publishing company but close enough. She said many times that I had lost weight. (I wish.) She said Bernice was very beautiful. We had a great conversation. And when we were about to leave she blessed us in a strong voice. We were blessed.

Life is a series of transitions. Transitions can bring much upheaval. They can also uncover what is truly important. My aunt's default stance was her conviction that she was safe in the arms of Jesus. She should know. Jesus had seen her through many storms. Indeed she had gone through some "perfect storms" recently. Safe in the arms of Jesus. Might be just the word a young man needs to hear as he leaves Malaysia/Singapore to start a new chapter of his life half way around the world. Sure sounds like a word the parents of that young man need to hear as they release their youngest son to a different chapter of life.

"Indeed, you are my shelter,
a strong tower that protects me from the enemy.
I will be a permanent guest in your home;
I will find shelter in the protection of your wings."
(Psalm 61: 3-4 NET)

=================================
Course on Spiritual Mentoring

I have the privilege of teaching the following course. The topic is one that I care deeply about. Hope you can join me.

BIBLICAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
SPIRITUAL MENTORING: THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS
AT372, 1.5 CREDITS
Adjunct Lecturer: Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn

Day/Time : Year 2010, Wednesdays, 7.15-9.45pm
Dates : Oct 20, 27; Nov 3, 10, 24
Venue : Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church
77 Prinsep Street Singapore 188649
Tel: 62276815 (BGST)
Fees : $165 (for credit); $115 (by audit)

For more information please contact BGST
Address: 37 Jalan Pemimpin, #06-05 Block B,
Union Industrial Building, Singapore 577177.
Telephone: 65-6227-6815 | Fax: 65-6255-3686
Email: bgst@pacific.net.sg | Website: http://www.bgst.edu.sg

=================================
Would you consider helping to sponsor the Grace@Work
commentary?

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weekly. If you would like to know how you can help sponsor
this work, please email us for details. Write us at:
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This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses
to remain anonymous.

=======================================
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Correction: Not Michael W. Smith

2010-08-20T10:54:20Z

Dear friends,

I want to thank those who wrote in to let me know that �Above All� was composed by Paul Baloche and Lenny LeBlanc and not by Michael W. Smith. That's what you get for doing research on the run. :)

Blessings,

Soo Inn
__________________________________________
E �sooinn@graceworks.com.sg ��
W �http://www.graceworks.com.sg
�
GRACEWORKS: "promoting spiritual friendship in church and society"

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 33/10. Commentary: Is It Just Me?

2010-08-20T01:04:12Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 33/10
August 20, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Is It Just Me?
By Soo-Inn Tan

Have you sung "Above All" by Michael W. Smith in your worship service? Here is the first verse to refresh your memory:

"Above all powers above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began"

I enjoy singing this praise song. I like all the main verses. They paint a powerful picture of the majesty of the pre incarnate Christ. It's the chorus I don't like.

"Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all"

I know that Jesus is sometimes called the Rose of Sharon but "Like a Rose trampled on the ground" doesn't quite capture the mystery and grandeur of Jesus's death on the cross. As I sing the song I find myself shifting suddenly from grand declarations of the pre incarnate Christ to a romantic maudlin picture more at home in a romance novel. A "rose trampled on the ground" doesn't add on to the robust truth of "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29 NET)." If anything it trivialises it. But it is the next line that really makes me uneasy:

"You took the fall and thought of me above all."

Thought of me above all? Am I the focus of worship or God? I share the sentiments of Cherith Fee Nordling when she writes:

[We can overemphasize God's transcendence such that the "Immortal, Invisible God" only wise, is considered unknowable and disengaged from the plight of our broken world. Or, in reverse, when immanence is overemphasized, we cannot see the Lord of heaven and earth behind "Jesus, my best friend." Something particularly formative occurs when we sing "Jesus I am so in love with you," or "you took the fall, and thought of me above all." As we try to focus on Jesus, without missing a beat, we suddenly become the subject in worship. Our vision blurs, and rather than focusing on God, we're looking at our experience of God. . . .The narcissistic anthem of the dominion of darkness sings to us, calling us to fashion ourselves into an image placed at the center of everything. It leads . . . to worship that is "turned in, self-referential and theologically vacuous." ("Renewed in Knowledge in the Image of Our Creator" Through "Psalms, Hymns and Songs of the Spirit", Life In The Spirit, eds
., Jeffrey P. Greenman and George Kalantzis, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010, 203)]

Is Fee Nordling too harsh?

One of the blessings of the charismatic renewal is the recovery of the fact that when we sing in worship, we don't just sing about God, we sing to Him. When the church gathers for worship, we encounter the living God and we respond to Him in song. Nevertheless, we also sing songs that declare the reality and the nature of the living God --- who He is, what He has done, what He continues to do, and what He will do. And when we declare these divine truths to each other we are engaged in mutual spiritual formation.

[Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16 NET)]

N. T. Wright comments:

[This ministry of teaching and admonishing is to be part of a life of thankfulness that overflows into song . . . Linking the two parts of the verse in this way suggests that the singing is not the sole or primary means of teaching, though Christian hymns and songs have often been a powerful means of implanting and clarifying Christian truth. (Colossians and Philemon, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986,144)]

Obviously the teaching ministry of the church involves much more than our corporate singing. But it surely includes our singing as well. In many ways music is a much more subtle medium for shaping mind and heart than preaching for example. Most churches I know take their teaching and discipling ministries very seriously, as indeed they should. They pay careful attention to what is taught in the pulpit. They work hard to ensure that the church's study curriculum is sound. But very often they do not invest the same care in ensuring that the songs they sing are biblically sound as well. This can have disastrous consequences. As Fee Nordling warns:

[ . . . I have come to believe that a good deal of our theological confusion, and lethargy, can be traced back not to a few bad sermons, or systematic classes; rather, they stem, at least in part, from countless repetitions of anemic hymns and heretical choruses. ("Renewed in Knowledge in the Image of Our Creator" Through "Psalms, Hymns and Songs of the Spirit", 202)]

I think it is long overdue that we take a long hard look at precisely what we are singing week in week out. We must check if our hymns and songs are indwelt richly by "the word of Christ." This is not an issue of new vs old. After all Paul encourages us to sing with "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." We should use all sorts of good music to worship God and to edify one another. And there good and bad old worship songs just as there are good and bad new worship songs. The point is not whether a song is old or new. the point is, is it biblically sound? (Let me say I like some of Michael W Smith's other songs. And indeed I only have problems with the chorus of "Above All.")

Here is a more robust song about the death of Christ on our behalf:

"There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ"
(Stuart Townend, Keith Getty)

No roses, and with the focus on Christ and what He did. Stirs my heart every time.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Would you consider helping to sponsor the Grace@Work
commentary?

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people
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this work, please email us for details. Write us at:
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This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses
to remain anonymous.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ministering this weekend

August 21
Pentecost Methodist Church Young Adults Group
Spiritual Friendship Talk (Part II)
4:00 - 6:00 pm
4 Pasir Ris Drive 6
Singapore 519420

-----------------------------------------------------------
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 32/10. Commentary: Meeting Up

2010-08-14T13:24:42Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 32/10
August 13, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Meeting Up
By Soo-Inn Tan

How many good conversations have you had this week?
Apparently "happier people have more meaningful
conversations (Melinda Wenner Moyer, "Skip the Small Talk,"
Scientific American Mind, July/August 2010,12)." In a study
conducted at the University of Arizona and Washington
University in St Louis, researchers found that subjects who
were happy and content "spent 70 percent more time talking
than the unhappiest subjects, which suggests that 'the mere
time a person spends in the presence of others is a good
predictor of the person's level of happiness . . .' (Moyer,12)."
These happy subjects "participated in a third as much small
talk and had twice as many in-depth conversations as the
most unhappy participants (Moyer, 12)." Which may explain
why many of us are not happy.

At care group meeting last night, someone shared that when
she moved down from Malaysia to Singapore, she thought she
would find fewer challenges to her faith. (Christians in
Malaysia have to live out their faith in an Islamic context,
where Islam is used by some quarters to assert political
power.) Instead, in Singapore, she found that her faith was
challenged by the sheer busyness of life here. Well,
depending on what you do, I am not sure a city like KL is any
less busy. The modern work world is demanding, and when
people are busy, the first thing to go is relationships,
especially the face to face meetings that are the basis for the
good conversations that sustain relationships. And if the above
report is to be believed, healthy relationships are key to our
well being.

We have about 17 people on the roll of our care group and we
meet twice a month. Many times, just before a meeting, we
have to decide if we should continue, because many people
are not able to make it, most with valid reasons. We all live
busy lives. Making time for our groups is a decision that
Bernice and I make and often it does mean saying no to other
important things. And when people question the size of our
group I have to explain that at any given meeting usually
about 10 - 12 people show up, often less. However, we
normally do not cancel meetings and we meet with whoever
shows up. To skip one meeting means we meet only once a
month and that is not adequate for group life.

We also understand the importance of good conversations and
so we factor that into our care group meeting. We always
start our meetings with dinner. Over a meal, people start to
relax, they start to share their stories. As they share the
meal, they begin to share their lives. When we go into the
study time we struggle to understand God's truth but we also
struggle to see how the truth intersects with our lives. And
times of prayer are often preceded with sharing the things
that are on our heart. To encourage sharing, we usually divide
the group into smaller sub groupings, smaller groups of twos
and threes, or divided by gender.

Christianity is a relational faith which is only natural since we
follow a relational God of Father, Son, and Spirit. We are not
surprised then that the Scriptures command that we do not
neglect meeting up.

[And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for
the one who made the promise is trustworthy. And let us take
thought of how to spur one another on to love and good
works, not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the
habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so
because you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25
NET)]

William L. Lane comments:

[The reason the meetings of the assembly are not to be
neglected is that they provide a communal setting where
mutual encouragement and admonishment may occur . . . The
entire community must assume responsibility to watch that no
one grows weary or apostate. This is possible only when
Christians continue to exercise care for one another
personally. (Hebrews 9-13, Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1991,
290.)]

The early church were house churches of about 30 - 40 people
that met in homes. Therefore, this admonishment by the
writer of Hebrews may not have our usual Sunday large group
worship services in mind. While such meetings may be great
for inspiration and instruction, they are basically impersonal
in nature. It is our small groups, our cell groups and care
groups, that provide a better context to live out Hebrews
10:23-25. Even then, mutual care must be intentional.
Throwing a small group of people together does not guarantee
that they will have good life-giving conversations.

Indeed, we need to ask if having small groups in our churches
is an adequate response to our need for personal mutual care
since it is so hard to get all the members of a small group to
be in the same place at the same time. A pastor friend in KL is
now emphasising that the members of his community commit
themselves to spiritual friendship groups of three members
each. It is easier to find a common meeting time for three
than for 17. He still has small groups in his church but is now
emphasizing the smaller friendship groups. Folks in the
friendship groups may or may not be part of the church small
groups but all groups function under the authority of the
church leadership. Here is one church and one pastor who is
trying to make sure that Hebrews 10: 23-25 happens.

We live in an increasingly busy world. That is the reality we
have to contend with. Therefore we need to find creative
ways for all of us to find the life-giving fellowship we all need.
But not meeting up is not an option.

------------------------------------------------------
Ministering this weekend
August 14 (Saturday)
VCF Alumni Meeting
Spiritual Friendship
3:00 5:00 pm
MOE Dairy Farm Adventure Centre
30 Dairy Farm Road
Singapore 679058

August 15 (Sunday)
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"God Loves a Cheerful Giver" (2 Cor 9:6-15)
10:00 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

-------------------------------------------------
Would you consider helping to sponsor the Grace@Work
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The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people
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this work, please email us for details. Write us at:
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This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses
to remain anonymous.

-----------------------------------------------------
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)

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 31/10. Commentary: The Month of National Days

2010-08-09T18:00:34Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 31/10
August 6, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: The Month of National Days
By Soo-Inn Tan

August is the season of national days. I am a Malaysian residing in Singapore who returns to Malaysia regularly for work and to connect with friends and family. Aug 9 is the national day of Singapore. Aug 31 is the national day of Malaysia. August seems to be a good month to think again of how the church can impact society for Christ in general, and how the church should view politics in particular.

There are two possible extremes of how the church views politics. One is to ignore politics completely. This has been the case for a long time in the communities I come from. "Politics is dirty" and so the church should stick to evangelism and ignore any involvement in the public sphere. The other extreme is to see political action as the primary way to work for societal change. Recently someone challenged me to run for public office in Malaysia. (You can stop laughing now.) He believed that if I was serious of seeing Malaysia transformed I must enter politics. I am delighted that more Christians have rejected the sacred-secular divide and are committed to both evangelism and serving in the realm of politics. It is just that I am not called to direct political activism. I am also not convinced that political involvement is the primary way to see nations transformed for Christ.

The primary problem of humankind is her alienation from the living God because of sin and the only cure for this alienation is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed any Christian approach to societal change must take seriously the call to see hearts transformed, and people called back to allegiance to the living God. In Biblical Ethics and Social Change, Stephen Mott reminds us:

[Evangelism contributes significantly to moral change in the members of society; it is also a major factor in producing social activists. People are God's channels of justice, as well as of proclamation. The coming of the reign in the acceptance of the gift of Christ provides workers for the growth of the Reign in historical and political events. As Elton Trueblood observes, we "cannot reasonably expect to erect a constantly expanding structure of social activism upon a constantly diminishing foundation of faith." (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1982, 112)]

The most important gift followers of Jesus Christ can give to our respective nations is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sharing the gospel in Muslim Malaysia, and a Singapore increasingly sensitive to relations between different faith communities, will not be easy. It will need fresh creativity, fresh faith and fresh courage. But who ever said that evangelism in a fallen world would be easy? Now is not the time for laziness or prayerlessness.

Evangelism is central to our desire to see our nations blessed. But we need to do more that that. Leslie Newbigin reminds us that:

[ . . . there is no "secular" neutrality. Christians cannot evade the responsibility which a democratic society gives to every citizen to access the levers of power. (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989, 224)]

Whenever I hear a believer griping about the things they don't like in their country, I would ask: "well what are you doing about it? A democratic society demands the involvement of all her citizens. Do you pray for the country? Do you find out what is happening in the nation? Do you vote? Do you speak up for biblical values in the public square? Write to the press? Write to your MP? Join a political party? Run for office?" In other words are you part of the problem or are you part of the solution?

Here then are two ways then that believers can seek the welfare of our countries. It is not a matter of either or, but of both. We share the gospel. And we get involved in the public square. There is one more thing we must do. We must make sure that our churches reflect the values we espouse.

The gospel is not just something that is verbalised. It is also something that is fleshed out by the church. The church represents the Kingdom of God in society. In the words of Newbigin, the church must function as the "hermeneutic (interpret, unfold the significance . . . ) of the gospel." (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 222 ff) Newbigin also suggests six characteristics that will mark church communities that are trying to flesh out the gospel for society. (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 227 - 233)

1. It will be a community of praise.
" The Christian congregation . . . is a place where people find their true freedom, their true dignity, and their true equality in reverence to One who is worthy of all the praise we can offer." (228)

2. It will be a community of truth.
"A Christian congregation is a community in which through the constant remembering and rehearsing of the true story of human nature and destiny, an attitude of healthy scepticism can be sustained, a scepticism which enables one to take part in the life of society without being bemused and deluded by its own beliefs about itself. " (229)

3. It will be a community that does not live for itself but is deeply involved in the concerns of its neighbourhood.
" . . . the local congregation (must be) perceived in its own neighbourhood as the place from which good news overflows in good action . . ." (229)

4. It will be a community where men and women are prepared for and sustained in the exercise of the priesthood in the world.
"It is in the context of secular affairs that the mighty power released into the world through the work of Christ is to be manifested. . . . (The validity of our preaching) carry weight only when they are validated by the way in which Christians are actually behaving and using their influence in public life." (230)

5. It will be a community of mutual responsibility.
"If the Church is to be effective in advocating and achieving a new social order in the nation, it must itself be a new social order." (231)

6. It will be a community of hope.
" . . . the gospel offers an understanding of the human situation which makes it possible to be filled with a hope which is both eager and patient even in the most hopeless situations." (232)

In this month of national days, let us hear afresh the call to share the gospel, and the call to speak up for gospel values in the public square. In this month of national days, let the church also hear the call to be the church that we should be.

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The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

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Ministering this weekend

August 14
VCF Alumni Meeting
Spiritual Friendship
3:00 � 5:00 pm
MOE Dairy Farm Adventure Centre
30 Dairy Farm Road
Singapore 679058

August 15
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"God Loves a Cheerful Giver" (2 Cor 9:6-15)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 30/10. Commentary: The Problem with Inception

2010-08-04T18:54:43Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 30/10
July 30, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work commentary: The Problem with Inception
by Soo-Inn Tan

Our friends seem to be divided between those who think that Inception (2010) is a great
ground breaking movie, and those who think that it is at best an average movie. We belong to
the second category and hope that those in the first category will forgive us. We stand with
reviewers like Andrew O' Hehir of Salon who thinks that Inception is a "clunky overblown
disappointment . . . a joyless, awkwardly constructed mess."
(http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/inception/index.html?story=/ent/movies/andre
w_ohehir/2010/07/14/inception) Leonardo DiCaprio looked as though he was still on Shutter
Island (2010). At times I felt I was watching four movies simultaneously, none of which were
particularly outstanding. (In the movie, people were functioning in dreams within dreams,
four levels of dreams altogether.) Level 1 dream action seemed to be lifted from a Bourne
movie, level 2 was a slice from some Ocean's Eleven episode, level 3 was a throw back to a
James Bond movie from the seventies, and level 4 brought you into the Outer Limits. The fact
that the levels were happening simultaneously in a dream state didn't do much for me. It only
made me miss the Matrix (1999), a less pretentious movie, but one that worked.

Watchers of Inception respond to the movie in a number of ways. At one level, it is an action
movie, and we identify with the protagonists wanting them to succeed in their mission of
planting a false idea in the mind of the Cillian Murphy character. At another level, we are
teased into pondering if the movie is all it appears to be. Christopher Nolan, the director,
invites us to do so by ending the movie on an ambiguous note. Does the spinning top drop?
Based on the story, if it drops it proves that what we have seen on screen is "real." If it does
not, then the DiCaprio character is in a dream and we have to wonder if the whole movie
portrays one long elaborate dream. Cyberspace is abuzz with numerous theories, all supported
with "evidence" like: "In the final scenes, doesn't Cobb's children look exactly the same as in
his dream? Surely that proves they are in a dream." to "No, no they look a bit older and their
shoes are different." Good grief, we will be debating this until the cows come home, or until
the director publishes a definitive book on the movie and makes even more money.

What particularly troubled us was the mission of the protagonists in the story. They had to
plant an idea, a false memory in the mind of their mark. Are we the only one to find this
whole idea ethically repugnant? The story line tries to make us sympathetic to the mission by
implying, through Saito (the Ken Watanabe character), that if Robert Fisher (the Cillian
Murphy character) does not break up the super powerful corporation he inherits from his
father, the corporation would have an untouchable dangerous monopoly. And of course we
also badly want Cobb (DiCaprio) to succeed so that he can go home to America and be
reunited with his children. But should we be cheering a mission to plant a false memory?

Memory is very important in the Christian faith. When instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus
tells us that we are to celebrate holy communion in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19). The
Christian faith is predicated on true memory, remembering things that really happened. In this
we are following the Old Testament saints who were constantly exhorted to remember how
the Lord rescued them from Pharaoh and the Red Sea. Our faith and life, our present
commitment to Jesus, is built on things that really happened in the past.

Frederick Buechner points us to the special power of memory. First, he tells us that it is in
remembering our past that we see the hand of God and learn afresh about the work of God in
our lives.

[It is the Lord, it is God who has been with us through all our days and years whether we
knew it or not . . . with us in our best moments and in our worst moments, to heal us with his
wonders, to wound us healingly with his judgments, to bless us in hidden ways though more
often than not we have forgotten his name. (A Room Called Remember, San Francisco, CA:
Harper & Row, 1984, 10) ]

And in remembering that God has been at work in our lives, we find hope for the future.

[. . . because we remember, we have this high and holy hope: that what he has begun in us,
and our world, he will in unimaginable ways bring to fullness and fruition. (A Room Called
Remember, 12)]

Buechner gives us another reason to treasure memory. It is in remembering what has
happened to us that we can learn from our own lives.

[In fact I am inclined to believe that God's chief purpose in giving us memory is to enable us
to go back in time so that if we didn't play (our) roles right the first time round, we can still
have another go at it now . . . The sad things that happened long ago will always remain part
of who we are just as the glad and gracious things will too, but instead of being a burden of
guilt, recrimination, and regret that makes us constantly stumble as we go, even the saddest
things can become, once we have made peace with them, a source of wisdom and strength for
the journey that still lies ahead. (Telling Secrets, San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco,
1991, 32-33)]

Indeed if we truly believe that " . . . all things work together for good for those who love God
. . . (Romans 8:28 NET)" we need to remember the things that happened to us so that we can
see what God does with them.

Memory then is a precious gift of God. Guided by Scripture, memory allows us to see the
hand of God in our lives and allows us to learn from our lives. For those who do not know
Christ, memory can speak of an emptiness that makes sense of the gospel. We should be on
our guard against any attempt to manipulate memory. So while Inception is an average movie,
one worth watching once at least, I am deeply concerned that we do not get so distracted in
cheering on the team, and/or in guessing what Nolan is up to, that we don't see the point of
the story --- planting a false memory --- for what it is, a grave assault on our humanity. I am
sure that technology will give us the ability to do this if it hasn't already done so. And we
don't really need special technology to plant false memories. Everyday, spin doctors all
around the world are rewriting history for their paymasters. We must remember the
importance of remembering.

===========================================
The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details.
Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by the Lim family.

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Ministering this weekend

August 7
New Life Baptist Church Couples' Dinner 2010
"Pursuing God as a Couple"
6:00 10:00 pm
Acacia Restaurant, Bishan Park II
1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Singapore 569931

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GRACEWORKSMAIL 29/10. Commentary: Does PowerPoint Have Power?

2010-07-27T03:00:56Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 29/10
July 23, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Does PowerPoint Have Power?
By Soo-Inn Tan

The talk was going well. People were engaged. Many were jotting notes. I was looking around trying to make eye contact with the different people in the room. And then something strange happened. The audience stopped looking at me. They began to look at something behind me. The human connection between speaker and listener was broken. I looked back and to see what the audience was looking at. It was a PowerPoint presentation of my main points. I thanked the church for taking the trouble to put my points on PowerPoint. And then I asked them to turn it off.

All the groups who work with me know that I do not use PowerPoint when I give my talks. Instead I ask that they put my notes on handouts. In this way people will have something to take away. And when I speak they can interact by taking notes and jotting down questions and observations. But no PowerPoint. The folks who invite me are usually surprised that I do not use power Powerpoint and often ask me a few times if they heard me right. I can only assume that I am one of a few speakers who do not use PowerPoint. Am I some lazy Luddite who refuses to make use of new communication technology? Possibly. It took me along time to start using computers. But I have my reasons for not using PowerPoint.

In his book, Real Leaders Don't Do PowerPoint, Christopher Witt gives some reasons why "real leaders" shouldn't use PowerPoint when they speak.

First, he points out that PowerPoint is good for presenting information but not good for persuading people. He notes that when people debate about he effectiveness of PowerPoint, they don't dispute that the main purpose of PowerPoint is to present information.

[Whether you agree with the critics or with the advocates, notice what both sides are arguing about: the effectiveness of PowerPoint in communicating information. Neither side believes PowerPoint will help you shape how an audience thinks and feels or stir them to action. (London, UK: Piatkus Books, 2009,184).]

Next, Witt points out that PowerPoint hogs attention. "When you project something on the screen, people look at it . . . Even if they can read it in 20 seconds flat . . . They'll keep looking at it And all the time they're looking at it, they're not looking at you." (Witt, 184)

Third, Witt reminds us that preparing PowerPoint is time-consuming. He notes that folks like Al Gore use PowerPoint well and have great slides, but they have professional, highly trained folks working on their slides. On our own, Witt says, we will probably end up "spending more time formatting slides than thinking through (our) strategy or crafting (our) message." (Witt, 185)

Long before I picked up Witt"s book I had come to the same conclusions. When I have the privilege to stand up before a group of people I am hoping that through my talk, hearts will be moved and lives will be changed. This does not mean I do not do serious proper research when I prepare my talks. But I don't confuse what I need to do in my study and what I need to do when I am actually speaking. Researchers have found that when people have to work though a lot of information their thinking shifts into a more analytical frame of mind and when that happens it is less likely that their hearts will be engaged. (Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick, London, UK: Random House, 2007,166-167). [I like the title of a book that talks about the power of story telling in communication --- Wake Me Up When the Data is Over. (Lori Silverman, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2006.)]

Christian preaching and teaching can be divided into two broad types --- evangelism, when we are speaking to those who are not followers of Jesus Christ, and edification, when we are trying to build up the saints in some way. When I do either I am trying to persuade people, not just give them information. I am trying, by God's grace, to move their hearts and not just to fill their minds. Which is why I choose not to use PowerPoint. Here is another comment about the limits of PowerPoint by John P. Kotter:

[We need to trade in PowerPoint bullets for real action. People change because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings, not because they were given endless amounts of logical data. Leaders who transform organizations do so by tapping into people�s minds and hearts. They powerfully communicate their vision but know that what they do has a more lasting impact than what they say. (John P. Kotter, "PowerPoint Is Evil, Redux, Blog Post by David Silverman,"Harvard Business Review, July - August 2010, 18-19).]

Kotter makes a number of points. He affirms what we have seen so far --- that people are not changed through exposure to a lot of logical data, hence the limits of using PowerPoint to change hearts and minds. But Kotter also alludes to another truth --- that a key element in persuading people is the testimony of the life of the speaker.

Witt concurs. He writes:

[Who you are is inseparable from what you communicate. I don't just mean that your actions speak louder than your words. of course they do. I mean that your character --- who you are, what you've done, what you value --- shapes the message your listeners hear. (Witt, 11)]

I used to be perplexed when I hear Paul asking people to imitate him as he in turn imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). I thought he was arrogant to put himself up as a model for people to follow. I now understand that Paul understood that you can never separate the message from the messenger. Hence Paul commends Timothy for following both his teaching and his way of life (2 Timothy 3: 10).

If speaking is about persuasion and not just information transfer, and if the speaker is a key part of the communication, we can understand why some speakers choose not to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is better for transferring information than for persuasion, and they take the eyes of the audience off the speaker.

Let me end by saying that I am not totally against the use of PowerPoint. It can be used to convey images (not lots of data) that may help to increase the emotional impact of a talk. Steve Jobs is a master at this (http://blogs.bnet.com/harvard/?p=6711). I may yet use PowerPoint in my talks. Right now I want to work at living out what I teach, and to grow in my ability to speak from my heart to the hearts of my listeners.

============================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

================================================

Ministering this weekend

July 30 - August 3
IFES East Asia Graduates Conference 2010
"Living Water, Living Well"
Noah's Ark Resort
33 Pak Yan Road
Ma Wan, New Territories,
Hong Kong

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 28/10. Commentary: Invited to Trust

2010-07-19T17:05:33Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 28/10
July 16, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Invited to Trust
By Soo-Inn Tan

Last Sunday (July 11th) I had the privilege of being asked to say a few words at the memorial service of my friend Alvin Tan. He died from a heart attack, age 41, on 27 April 2010. I started my saying: "It's such a waste that he died so young. If he had lived longer he could have done so much more good." People nodded. Then I said "he was only 33." I was referring to Jesus. Often we forget that Jesus is truly human and that He walked on this earth, and that He died at age 33. And because we forget His true humanity we forget to wonder, "what if." What if Jesus had lived till 40? Or 35? How many more people could He have discipled? How much more significant teaching could He have given? A Sermon on the Mount part 2? And surely we would have been blessed with more miracles? We know that He had to die for our sins and is now with the Father but surely a few years longer on earth would have been so useful. But Jesus died at 33. And Alvin died at 41.

Once again, we are confronted with this hard truth:

"Indeed, my plans are not like your plans,
and my deeds are not like your deeds,
for just as the sky is higher than the earth,
so my deeds are superior to your deeds
and my plans superior to your plans."
(Isaiah 55:8-9 NET)

Sometimes you just have no clue as to what the Almighty is up to. Why take Alvin home at this point in time? Why leave Sharon a widow and five children without a father? Why take away the pastor of an innovative church on the verge of major breakthroughs? Sooner or later we are humbled afresh by the incomprehensibility of God.

["God is incomprehensible" means that no human being can fully comprehend God or fathom the depth of the divine reality. Whatever knowledge we have about God is at best partial . . . The acknowledgement that God is incomprehensible is related to an awareness that God is transcendent. Because he is beyond creation and comes to the world from beyond, God is always higher than our ability to fathom. (Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,1994, 45).]

It seems unfair because it is God who gave us the capacity to think and to reason to begin with. Of all the creatures on earth, we are the ones who ask "why," we are the ones with the need to understand the "whys" of things. Yet the same God who created us to ask "why" is also the same God who sometimes does things that defy our "whys." I can only assume that when the "whys" are not forthcoming we are invited to trust.

There is a book in the bible that addresses this issue, the book of Job. Job had no idea why he was undergoing so much suffering even though he had lived a righteous life. I am not sure what was worse --- the incredible suffering Job had to undergo or never knowing why. The readers of the book know about the heavenly wager between Satan and God but Job did not have the benefit of that knowledge. When God finally shows up Job is invited to trust in Him and in the end God blessed Job. I believe that Sharon and all of us who love Alvin are being called to trust in a God who always has a reason for all He does and who never makes mistakes. Indeed, as I shared during the memorial service, I believe that in His time, God will bless Sharon, and the children, and GloryPoint abundantly, as He blessed Job in the end.

In fact we are in a better position than Job when it comes to reasons for trusting the Lord. We have seen God's love demonstrated on the Cross of Jesus Christ. We have seen Jesus conquer death. We now know that:

[Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32 NET)]

and that:

[For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NET)]

In the face of our painful "whys", we are invited to trust in the perfect will and the perfect love of God. What else can we do? But looking at the Cross and the empty tomb, we know that our faith will not be in vain. So goodbye Alvin. We miss you big time. But we know that it is going to be ok. May take awhile but it's going to be ok.

=================================================
The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by Alvin Tan who left some money for the work of Graceworks before he was called home.

====================================================

Ministering this weekend
July 24 Saturday
Pentecost Methodist Church Young Adults Group
Spiritual Friendship Talk
4:00 - 6:00 pm
4 Pasir Ris Drive 6
Singapore 519420

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 27/10. Commentary: Paul Among The Prophets

2010-07-12T20:21:15Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 27/10
July 9, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Paul among the prophets
By Soo-Inn Tan

By now the whole world knows about Paul the psychic octopus. In the recent World Cup, he predicted correctly the winner of every game that involved the German team. He even predicted correctly that Spain would beat Holland in the finals. I am not sure of the statistical probability of this happening but I am impressed. What has confused me however is the hatred that Paul the octopus has received. The number of people online who hate Paul and want to calamarify him is incredible. But why hate the messenger? He only tells the truth. It reminded me afresh that people do not want to hear the truth. They want to hear things that reinforce their choices and desires. (And there is no evidence that Paul is in cahoots with betting syndicates.)

Any student of the biblical prophets would recognise this phenomenon. Remember the prophet Jeremiah?

[Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet,
and I allowed you to do it.
You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me.
Now I have become a constant laughingstock.
Everyone ridicules me.
For whenever I prophesy, I must cry out,
�Violence and destruction are coming!"
This message from the Lord has made me
an object of continual insults and derision.
(Jeremiah 20:7-8 NET)]

Like every true prophet Jeremiah had to be true to the Lord and to the Word he had received. But he was a "bad news" prophet. He had to tell the people that judgement was coming because of their sins. That was the truth but people did not want to hear it. They thought that they could continue to sin against the Lord and get away with it. But that made Jeremiah very unpopular. He was mocked, hated and persecuted because he spoke the truth. Jeremiah would have empathised with Paul the psychic octopus. Is there a lesson here for the church? I believe there is.

The gospel is first bad news before it is good news.

[ . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3;23-24 NET)]

Indeed the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be appreciated and welcomed without the bad news of our desperate need. Following Christ is the path to life but it is also a narrow road, one that requires carrying one's cross. There are easier religious belief systems out there. Although our salvation is freely given, it is a decision that requires our all and makes us misfits in this world. We follow Christ because " . . . there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12b NET) In our evangelism we cannot hide the "why"of the gospel or the cost of discipleship.

We need to let people know that God loves them by word and by deed. But we must never water down the gospel. In our desire to get a hearing for the gospel we must not hide the bad news that is part of the good news. The apostle Paul understood this.

[For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, about our coming to you � it has not proven to be purposeless. But although we suffered earlier and were mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of much opposition. For the appeal we make does not come from error or impurity or with deceit, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts. For we never appeared with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed - God is our witness - nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others . . . (1Thessalonians 2:6 NET)]

Apparently Paul's honest approach did not jeopardise his evangelistic efforts.

[And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God�s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God�s message, which is at work among you who believe. For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God�s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely. (1Thessalonians 2: 13-15a NET)]

Conversion is a miracle and a mystery but clearly, by not watering down the gospel, Paul did not discourage people from following Christ. Indeed by telling the Thessalonians the truth, Paul was used by the Lord to win many to Christ, in conversions that resulted in a robust discipleship --- the believers in Thessalonica were willing to suffer for the name of Christ.

We often hear complaints about the commitment levels of Christians today. While many profess to be followers of Jesus, we don't often see the kind of radical discipleship that allowed the early church to turn the world upside down. I wonder if that is partly due to the fact that we have watered down the gospel in our anxiety to see more people won to the the Lord? If we truly love God and if we truly love the lost we must speak the truth in love. We might be ridiculed and rejected, or we might be instrumental in seeing people truly transformed by the true gospel.

I hear that the Spanish government is willing to send in a team to protect Paul the psychic octopus. Christians might want to consider joining the team.

===============================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

====================================================

Ministering this weekend

July 17, Saturday

Mt Carmel Young Adults Meeting
"Biblical Perspectives on Homosexuality"
7:30 - 9:30 pm
Mt Carmel Church
Hope Sanctuary (2nd Floor)
152 West Coast Road
Singapore 127370

=============================================

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 26/10. Commentary: Eagles and Baseball

2010-07-05T19:18:16Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 26/10
July 2, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Eagles and Baseball
By Soo-Inn Tan

disappointment: "sadness or displeasure caused by the non-fulfilment of one's hopes or expectations"
Oxford Dictionary of English

We work hard. So when we get away, even when we have work to do, we try to squeeze in as much fun as we can. In out last trip to North America, we were delighted to find out that the Eagles were playing in Vancouver when we were going to be there. So we got a friend to book us some tickets. (Yes, we believe that "Hotel California" is not demonic. As the band claims, the song is a metaphor of being trapped in the empty hedonistic life style of Southern California, which is, well, demonic in a different sort of way I guess.) But the concert was cancelled.

On the morning of the concert, the friend who got us the tickets messaged us to tell us that the concert had been cancelled. One of the band members had fallen sick and they had cancelled the show. (I guess we have to expect that bands comprising of ageing baby boomers will be more prone to this.)The show was rescheduled but as we subsequently found out, we would no longer be in Vancouver on the new date. We got a refund.

The friend who got us the tickets, a good friend, a pastor, and a man of faith, said sagely, "one day we will know why the Lord prevented you from seeing this concert." We didn't have to wait that long. We met a friend in Vancouver who was going through a tough time financially. Bernice, who listens to the Lord much better than me (to no one's surprise I am sure) said we should give the bulk of the refund money to him. It made perfect sense. It gave us much joy to be able to pass most of the concert refund money to our friend.

Meanwhile we were unexpectedly treated to a different cultural experience. When we were in Seattle, our new good friends, Al and Nancy, took us to a ball game --- the Mariners vs the Padres. The Mariners lost 2-1 even though they had beaten the same team emphatically the night before. Ah, the mysteries of life, and baseball. It was the first time Bernice and I had been to a ball game. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and left the game with fresh appreciation for baseball and the generous friendship of Al and Nancy.

I hate surprises, especially unpleasant ones. I want my life to be predictable, to go according to plan. And I don't take disappointments well. But events like the one above remind me that God is in control and that sometimes He lets our plans fall through because He has other things in store. I think of Martha, disappointed that Jesus hadn't come in time to prevent her brother from dying.

[When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. (Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, so many of the Jewish people of the region had come to Martha and Mary to console them over the loss of their brother.) So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, �Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:17-21 NET)] "If only . . ." --- the disappointment, and frustration with Jesus, is palpable and understandable. At least Martha had enough faith to say: "But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you." (John 11:22 NET)

But we now know how this story ends. Martha and Mary and Lazarus experience a miracle few were privileged to witness. They were witnesses to the glory of God.

The story of Job however, is warning that we may not always see the logic of our disappointments this side of heaven. However the story of Job also teaches us that God is always in control and that He always has a reason. The Word of God calls us to trust Him in the disappointments of our lives.

I started this column early this morning (July 5th 2010). It is evening now and I should be able to finish this piece soon. But late in the afternoon I received very disappointing news, news that opened up a lot of old wounds. Once again I find myself writing for my own heart. Once again I am called to trust the Lord in the face of disappointment. This will not be the last time. A fallen world is full of disappointments. We disappoint people all the time. How many people have I let down? How much of my life promises so much more than I deliver? And people disappoint us. The worst disappointments come from those from whom we expect the most.

I am so grateful that I follow a God who brings the most life out of the worst disappointment, a God who uses Good Friday to renew a creation. It is this God who calls me to trust Him today and everyday, until that day when disappointments will be no more.

==============================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

==============================================

Ministering this weekend

July 10
Bethany Chapel, Klang
"Life Stewardship"
5 - 9.15 pm
70 Jalan Seruling 45
Taman Klang Jaya
41200 Klang, Selangor

July 11
Bethany Chapel, Klang
Sunday Worship Service
8:30 am
70 Jalan Seruling 45
Taman Klang Jaya
41200 Klang, Selangor

=============================================

Your say!
Want to respond to this ecommentary?

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Or

If you are on Facebook, join the Graceworks group and leave a comment
or start a discussion. (Url:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102095941679)

===========================================
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 26/10. Commentary: Eagles and Baseball

2010-07-05T19:17:10Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 26/10
July 2, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Eagles and Baseball

disappointment: "sadness or displeasure caused by the non-fulfilment of one's hopes or expectations"
Oxford Dictionary of English

We work hard. So when we get away, even when we have work to do, we try to squeeze in as much fun as we can. In out last trip to North America, we were delighted to find out that the Eagles were playing in Vancouver when we were going to be there. So we got a friend to book us some tickets. (Yes, we believe that "Hotel California" is not demonic. As the band claims, the song is a metaphor of being trapped in the empty hedonistic life style of Southern California, which is, well, demonic in a different sort of way I guess.) But the concert was cancelled.

On the morning of the concert, the friend who got us the tickets messaged us to tell us that the concert had been cancelled. One of the band members had fallen sick and they had cancelled the show. (I guess we have to expect that bands comprising of ageing baby boomers will be more prone to this.)The show was rescheduled but as we subsequently found out, we would no longer be in Vancouver on the new date. We got a refund.

The friend who got us the tickets, a good friend, a pastor, and a man of faith, said sagely, "one day we will know why the Lord prevented you from seeing this concert." We didn't have to wait that long. We met a friend in Vancouver who was going through a tough time financially. Bernice, who listens to the Lord much better than me (to no one's surprise I am sure) said we should give the bulk of the refund money to him. It made perfect sense. It gave us much joy to be able to pass most of the concert refund money to our friend.

Meanwhile we were unexpectedly treated to a different cultural experience. When we were in Seattle, our new good friends, Al and Nancy, took us to a ball game --- the Mariners vs the Padres. The Mariners lost 2-1 even though they had beaten the same team emphatically the night before. Ah, the mysteries of life, and baseball. It was the first time Bernice and I had been to a ball game. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and left the game with fresh appreciation for baseball and the generous friendship of Al and Nancy.

I hate surprises, especially unpleasant ones. I want my life to be predictable, to go according to plan. And I don't take disappointments well. But events like the one above remind me that God is in control and that sometimes He lets our plans fall through because He has other things in store. I think of Martha, disappointed that Jesus hadn't come in time to prevent her brother from dying.

[When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. (Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, so many of the Jewish people of the region had come to Martha and Mary to console them over the loss of their brother.) So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, �Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:17-21 NET)] "If only . . ." --- the disappointment, and frustration with Jesus, is palpable and understandable. At least Martha had enough faith to say: "But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you." (John 11:22 NET)

But we now know how this story ends. Martha and Mary and Lazarus experience a miracle few were privileged to witness. They were witnesses to the glory of God.

The story of Job however, is warning that we may not always see the logic of our disappointments this side of heaven. However the story of Job also teaches us that God is always in control and that He always has a reason. The Word of God calls us to trust Him in the disappointments of our lives.

I started this column early this morning (July 5th 2010). It is evening now and I should be able to finish this piece soon. But late in the afternoon I received very disappointing news, news that opened up a lot of old wounds. Once again I find myself writing for my own heart. Once again I am called to trust the Lord in the face of disappointment. This will not be the last time. A fallen world is full of disappointments. We disappoint people all the time. How many people have I let down? How much of my life promises so much more than I deliver? And people disappoint us. The worst disappointments come from those from whom we expect the most.

I am so grateful that I follow a God who brings the most life out of the worst disappointment, a God who uses Good Friday to renew a creation. It is this God who calls me to trust Him today and everyday, until that day when disappointments will be no more.

==============================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

==============================================

Ministering this weekend

July 10
Bethany Chapel, Klang
"Life Stewardship"
5 - 9.15 pm
70 Jalan Seruling 45
Taman Klang Jaya
41200 Klang, Selangor

July 11
Bethany Chapel, Klang
Sunday Worship Service
8:30 am
70 Jalan Seruling 45
Taman Klang Jaya
41200 Klang, Selangor

=============================================

Your say!
Want to respond to this ecommentary?

1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
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truth in love to edify.

Or

If you are on Facebook, join the Graceworks group and leave a comment
or start a discussion. (Url:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102095941679)

===========================================
Grace@Work commentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 25/10. Commentary: Prof Kana

2010-06-28T16:26:39Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 25/10
June 25, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Prof Kana
By Soo-Inn Tan

I am at that stage of life where I check the obituary everyday. Saw an obituary for Professor Ragunathar Kanagasuntheram in the June 24 issue of the Singapore Straits Times. I checked on line and found one with more details.

[Obituary Notice

Professor Ragunathar Kanagasuntheram
Emeritus Professor of Anatomy, National University of Singapore
Born in Karainagar, Sri Lanka, On 14 October 1919
Passed away peacefully in, Adelaide, Australia On 19 June 2010

He lived an exemplary life of dedication to God, and to medical education, as Head of Anatomy Department, National University of Singapore; Dean of Medical College, University of Jaffna and inspired everyone who came into contact with him. He leaves behind his loving family and friends to mourn his passing, and celebrate his life. Beloved Wife: Sornam, Devoted Children: Narendran, Rajendran, Pathmini, Bhavani and Panja, Loving Grandchildren: Gayathri, Sharavanan, Kanesan, Rayan, Anand, Prakash, Kailash, Yasotha and Ramana Caring In-laws: Parameswari, Rathi, Shreya Parasivam, Nathan and Raja, Many nephews and nieces. (http://www.karainagar.com/pg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191%3Aprofessor-ragunathar-kanagasuntheram-&catid=38%3Aobituary&Itemid=70) ]

I had the privilege of having Prof Kana teach me anatomy in my first year of dental school in the then University of Singapore. Here was a master teacher, one who had the two indispensable qualities of those teachers who truly shape lives. He loved his discipline and he loved his pupils.

I had a hard time in my first year in dental school. I failed three of my four subjects in my first professional exam, including anatomy. It just so happened that Prof Kana was visiting Penang (my home town) during the holidays. He met my dad and dad subsequently told me that Prof had told him that "it was going to be ok." Prof knew the concerns of students and their parents.

He and his team really worked on us, all the students taking supplementary exams. Thank God I passed all my subjects at the second go. Prof let on that I have done quite well for anatomy. This was a special teacher. Many doctors and dentists will mourn his passing. We owe him a great debt.

I wasn't sure as to his religious convictions. I suspected he was Hindu. Whatever his religious affiliations, here was a man who thought deeply and who cared for people. He was always bemused at all the Christian freshmen running around sharing the gospel with their fellow students. Those who were bolder tried to share the gospel with the profs as well. When we had the chance to discuss religion with Prof Kana, he would gently ask us: "how can the finite hope to understand the infinite?" We agreed that God is infinite and that human beings were finite. How could finite beings, and surely undergrad dental and medical students were as finite as they come, go around, so certain of their convictions about God?

I wasn't able to give him a satisfactory response to his query then. It was a reasonable observation. Indeed how can the finite hope to have accurate knowledge of the infinite? I often wished I had a chance to meet Prof Kana again in the years that passed. And now it seems I will no longer have the chance. If I had had a chance to meet Prof again, this is the response that I would have volunteered. Indeed it is impossible for the finite to understand the infinite unless the infinite takes the initiative to reveal Himself.

Here is the apostle John's testimony about Jesus:

[Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory - the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. 1:15 John testified about him and shouted out, "This one was the one about whom I said, 'He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me. '" For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known. (John 1:14-18 NET)]

"No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the father, has made God known. (John1:18)" And in case we missed the point, John would later tell us that Jesus said: "The person who has seen me has seen the Father! (John 14:9)"

Were those young undergraduate students running around confronting everyone with the Four Spiritual Laws and other evangelistic tools, young, brash and naive? Yes. Did they have accurate knowledge about God? Yes. Because the infinite has chosen to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus, in a revelation now contained in the bible.

No, we do not have exhaustive knowledge of God. Indeed how can the finite ever have exhaustive knowledge of the infinite. But we do have accurate knowledge about God. It is knowledge that among other things, tells us who we are, where we came from, the reality of sin, how we can relate to God through repentance and faith in Jesus, how we ought to live, and our eternal destiny. We do not know everything but we know enough. Above all we know that God loves us and that He wants us to share that love with others.

I wish I had met Prof Kana again. I would have thanked him for teaching me so much about anatomy and about life. I would have tried to tell him again about Jesus and give him what I hope would be a more satisfactory answer about knowledge of the infinite. But it is too late now. I do not know what his spiritual journey was in the years since. I know he is with an Infinite who does not make mistakes.

==============================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

==============================================

Ministering this weekend

July 3
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"A Commendable Ministry" (2 Cor 6: 3-13)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

===============================

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GRACEWORKSMAIL 24/10. Commentary: Truth and Love

2010-06-18T09:14:47Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 24/10
June 18, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Truth and Love
By Soo-Inn Tan

The church is in the news a lot in Singapore these days. Recently the papers carried the story of a sermon that was deemed to be disrespectful of Taoism. A 10 minute audio clip from that sermon had been posted on YouTube.

[In it, a church pastor, Mr Mark Ng, can be heard joking with the congregation about Chinese rituals; in one instance, he compared praying to "Taoist deities to "seeking protection from secret society gangsters." ( Yen Feng, "ISD looks into clip of sermon which mocked Taoist beliefs" The Straits Times, June 15 2010, A6)]

Mr Ng's church had apologised publicly through the church's website. Later Mr Ng went to the Taoist Federation office and apologised personally to the Taoist Federation chairman. The apology was accepted. What can the church learn from this incident?

Firstly, in the internet world, where every mobile phone is a camera and recorder, anything said in any meeting can be posted online for all to see and/or hear. The danger is that something that is said can be taken out of context. The plus is that it aids integrity. If we believe what we say is the truth we will hold on to that whether in private or in public. Few things can be hidden nowadays and surely not sermons and other public talks. We have to be more deliberate about what we believe and what we say.

Second, Christians are called to love, and love does not ridicule. We see Jesus demonstrating the gospel of the Kingdom by feeding the hungry and healing the sick. Jesus did preach a gospel of repentance but it was a preaching that went hand to hand with His demonstrations of love. When He approached Jerusalem for example, He wept over the city knowing that it would soon suffer judgement (Luke 19:41-44). I can't see this Jesus ridiculing those of other faiths and therefore I can't see those animated by His Spirit doing so too.

Maybe some of us need to renounce an unhealthy triumphalism that may have crept into some quarters of the church. We are sinners saved by grace. There is no place to feel superior to those of other faiths. And the government is right to keep an eye on things that may lead to inter religious conflict.

However what the church must not do is retreat from her commitment to absolute truth and the truth that " . . . there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.�(Acts 4:12 NET) These are the truths we live by, truths for which we must be prepared to suffer for if need be. Indeed later in Acts Chapter 4 we find the disciples getting into trouble with the religious authorities of the day because they refused to stop preaching about Jesus. Christians must never hurt others in the Name of Christ. But there may be times when we have to suffer for the privilege of following Christ.

Living in a multi religious secular country like Singapore, we are grateful for the freedom of religion we enjoy. It is a freedom that allows us to hold on to our religious convictions including our evaluation of truth claims made by other faith communities. It is a freedom that allows us to teach what we believe to be true to our children and to our faith community.

However that same freedom also protects the rights of those of other faiths and those who hold to no religious faith, to have their convictions and their opinions of my religious convictions. More than once for example, I have encountered those who think it irrational that Christians believe in one God who is also three, and that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. I respect their beliefs. Indeed it is in knowing our differences that allows for healthy dialogue. I have learnt much from my friends of other faiths even when I have not agreed with them.

Today, the Christian commitment to truth is being challenged in two directions. First there is the post modern suspicion of any claim to absolute truth. Then there is the fear of inter-communal conflict. We must not be cowed by either of these challenges to the extent that we withdraw into our spiritual ghettos, reducing Christianity to a subjective privatised faith. More than ever we need to know God's truth. But we must also be committed to living out those truths. For finally the most powerful apologetic for the gospel is a transformed life. Our lives must be so different from those who do not know Christ that people are curious as to why we are different. Our lives must evoke the question for which Christ is the answer. Indeed, there is salvation in no one else.

==============================

Announcement

You are cordially invited to the Malaysian book launch of Thinking On The Run by Soo Inn

Date: This Saturday, 19 June 2010
Time: 4.00pm - 5.30pm
Location: Glad Sounds,
Explore Floor, StarHill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Patron: Datin Kathleen Chew, Chairperson, Alpha Malaysia

Please let us know if you are coming as refreshments will be provided
.
To register, please email: gladsounds@gmail.com, or fax: 03-79560528, or call: 03-79562901/ 03-79556442

Thank you

===========================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

==============================================

Ministering this weekend

June 19
�Thinking On the Run� Book Launch
Glad Sounds Bookshop
Starhill Gallery
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur

June 20
Melawati Gospel Centre
Sunday Worship Service
�Spiritual Mentoring�
49, Jalan Bandar 1
Taman Melawati
53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

June 21
Seminari Theoloji Malaysia Quiet Day
8:00 am � 4:30 pm
Lot 3011, Taman South East
70100 Seremban, Malaysia

=====================================

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 23/10. Commentary: Ten Years and Counting

2010-06-12T15:01:00Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 23/10
June 11, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work commentary: Ten Years and Counting.
By Soo-Inn Tan

I am grateful to darling Bernice for reminding me that by August, the weekly ecommentary will be ten years old. Apart from three weeks I think, and one piece written by my dear wife, I have sent out a weekly reflection that seeks to make sense of something going on in the world, or in my heart, from the perspective of Scripture, for almost ten years now. I remember Bishop Hwa Yung once writing in to thank me for the commentaries. But he also asked me to reconsider the need to put out a piece every week as the quality of the pieces would be uneven. He suggested that I should write less often if that meant essays with more consistent quality.

Bishop was right of course. The pieces have been uneven, and the commitment to put out one piece a week has been very demanding. I remember writing a piece on the day my father died. Yet, as often was the case, writing that piece was cathartic, a concrete expression of my grief. But it has been hard doing it every week. I am writing this piece, for example, late at night in a hotel in Batam (Indonesia) where I am taking a church camp. I am very tired. I have just finished one talk and I need to review my next one. But I thought I'd better start on this piece while the thoughts and feelings are fresh.

Why do I do this? Why do I write this e-column every week? For a number of reasons. Let me name two that are not particularly altruistic. First, I write because I am trying to make sense of my life. (My first collection of e-essays was titled Making Sense.) The need to make sense of my life became particularly acute when I lost my first wife to cancer, a disaster for which I was totally unprepared. Indeed her death was but the first of a number of body blows I received. I had to make sense of it all. In that I was no different from the many who are driven to write their memoirs. Here is what Vivian Gornick has to say about memoir writing:

[But memoir is neither testament nor fable nor analytic transcription. A memoir is a work of sustained narrative prose controlled by an idea of the self under obligation to lift from the raw material of life a tale that will shape experience, transform event, deliver wisdom. . . What happened to the writer is not what matters; what matters is the large sense that the writer is able to make of what happened. (The Situation and the Story, New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001, 91)]

I needed to make sense of my life to find some courage to carry on. My commitment to try to make sense of my life was also an act of faith. I believed that there is a God who is both sovereign and loving, a God who revealed Himself on the Cross, and therefore a God who can make sense of the Good Fridays of life. In doing this I am but following in the footsteps of many others. I believe, for example, that Frederick Buechner was inspired to write because he needed to make sense of his father's suicide. I have come to believe, as he does, that:

[Deep within history, as it gets itself written down in history books and newspapers, in the letters we write and in the diaries we keep, is sacred history, is God's purpose working itself out in the apparent purposelessness of human history and of our separate histories . . . (The Sacred Journey, New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1982, 4-5)]

There is another reason why I write this column, and why I continue to write and teach. My deep love for language. I guess I have had this love since I was young. Essay assignments in school would often inspire me to write mini novels. And I have always loved to read. This is one of many things Bernice and I share in common. In our widowed years, the empty half of our respective double beds was stacked high with books. I love language. I am in awe of what it can do. And because I love language I write. Annie Dillard explains this motivation:

[What impels the writer is a deep love for and respect for language, for literary forms, for books. It's a privilege to muck about in sentences all morning. It's a challenge to bring off a powerful effect, or to tell the truth about something. You don't do it from willpower; you do it from an abiding passion for the field. ("To Fashion a Text," Inventing the Truth edited by William Zinsser, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987, 75)]

So it is ten years and counting and not altogether altruistic. But I must admit that it gives me great joy to know that people have been blessed by the weekly essays. A few days ago a family dropped by our office, he an architect, she a university lecturer, with their two daughters. From Penang, they were on holiday in Singapore. They wanted to buy some of our books. We were pleasantly surprised because we hardly get "walk in customers." As they were about to leave, the architect came by and shook my hand and thanked me for the ecommentaries. He had been on the mailing list for some time and he had been blessed. Good to hear this once in awhile. Very good indeed.

=================================

Announcement

You are cordially invited to the Malaysian book launch of Thinking On The Run by Soo Inn

Date: Saturday, 19 June 2010
Time: 4.00pm - 5.30pm
Location: Glad Sounds,
Explore Floor, StarHill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Patron: Datin Kathleen Chew, Chairperson, Alpha Malaysia

Please let us know if you are coming as refreshments will be provided
.
To register, please email: gladsounds@gmail.com, or fax: 03-79560528, or call: 03-79562901/ 03-79556442

Thank you

======================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

========================================
Ministering this weekend

June 11-15
New Life Baptist Church Camp
"Managing Your Life, Managing Your Time"
Golden View Hotel
Jalan Bengkong Laut
Batam, Indonesia 29433

Ministering next weekend

June 19
�Thinking On the Run� Book Launch
Glad Sounds Bookshop
Starhill Gallery
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
June 20
Melawati Gospel Centre
Sunday Worship Service
�Spiritual Mentoring�
49, Jalan Bandar 1
Taman Melawati
53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
June 21
Seminari Theoloji Malaysia Quiet Day
8:00 am � 4:30 pm
Lot 3011, Taman South East
70100 Seremban, Malaysia

=====================================

Your say!
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 22/10. Commentary: Healing Wounds

2010-06-07T15:58:50Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 22/10
June 4, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: Healing Wounds
By Soo-Inn Tan

When Bernice and I visit a newly widowed friend, we will invariably be asked, "how long will it take?" No explanations needed. We know precisely what is being asked. How long before one gets over the crippling, agonising pain of loss? How long before life regains some sense of normalcy? We get asked this because Bernice and I have lost spouses in our own journeys. We often hesitate before we answer. We hesitate because we know that, though we have both experienced widowhood, each person's journey is unique. And there are so many variables, for example was the death expected or was it a sudden death. We usually end up saying that it normally takes one to two years to get over the worst of it. This is what the experts say and it is true. We also throw in the warning to watch out for triggers like New Year, Christmas, Father's/Mother's day, when the pain can suddenly be very acute again.

There are other things we want to tell our newly widowed friends, but we can only allude to them when the loss is recent. For one, we want to tell them that, in time, the wounds will no longer hurt but that in some ways we will carry those wounds with us the rest of our lives. Even Jesus continued to carry the marks of His wounds in His perfect resurrected body (John 20:24-29). If all that is good in this life is taken over into the next, and since Jesus still carries the marks of His passion, we can safely assume that God has transformed those wounds into something good and that He can do the same with our wounds. If we put our wounds in the hands of God, He can heal them and make them a source of growth and healing, for ourselves and for others.

That our deepest wounds can be the source of our most significant growth and a source of significant healing for others was something I first learnt from an early book by the late Henri Nouwen. In The Wounded Healer (New York, NY: Doubleday 1972), Nouwen writes: "But the more I think about loneliness, the more I think that the wound of loneliness is like the Grand Canyon --- a deep incision in the surface of our existence which has become an inexhaustible source of beauty and self-understanding.(84)" Nouwen also understands that our wounds can be a source of healing for others. He reminds us that " . . . he who proclaims liberation is called not only to care for his own wounds and the wounds of others, but also to make his wounds into a major source of his healing power. (83)"

I happened to be preaching from 2Corinthians 4 last Sunday and encountered afresh this paradox of "life from death."

[But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus� sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. As a result, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (2 Corinthians 4:7-12 NET)]

Linda L. Belleville comments:

[Christian reaction to adversity has tended to be "grin and bear it" or "keep a stiff upper lip." Paul's approach is to make clear that it is God's power (v.7) and the life of Jesus (v.10) that empower and sustain him, and not his own fortitude. It has been debated whether by 'the life of Jesus' Paul has in mind a human mode of existence or the power of the risen Christ. It need not be an either-or choice. The already /not yet character of salvation means that Christ's resurrection power is already impacting human existence. Paul acknowledges this very thing in his summary statement, 'So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.' While the Corinthians might have looked on hardship (death) as incompatible with a Spirit-directed ministry, it nonetheless produces a life that even now is at work, or better yet, is "energizing" ( en + ergeo) them. (2Corinthians, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996, 122, 123.)]

Recently we visited a friend, newly widowed. She asked "how long?" We hesitated and then answered "one to two years" with the usual qualifiers. We mentioned that in time, not only would she heal, she would find herself stronger than before, uniquely equipped to minister to others. We didn't press the point. All she can see now is the wreckage of the personal tsunami that hit her. We knew there would be no short cuts, but seeing our friend's faith, we were also confident she will discover that " . . . the wound, which causes us to suffer now, will be revealed to us later as the place where God intimated his new creation (Nouwen,, 96)" and that it is our deepest wounds that make possible our most significant growth, and that God will use our deepest wounds as a source of healing for others.

=================================

Announcement

You are cordially invited to the Malaysian book launch of Thinking On The Run by Soo Inn

Date: Saturday, 19 June 2010
Time: 4.00pm - 5.30pm
Location: Glad Sounds,
Explore Floor, StarHill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Patron: Datin Kathleen Chew, Chairperson, Alpha Malaysia

Please let us know if you are coming as refreshments will be provided
.
To register, please email: gladsounds@gmail.com, or fax: 03-79560528, or call: 03-79562901/ 03-79556442

Thank you

======================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

========================================
Ministering this weekend

June 11-15
New Life Baptist Church Camp
"Managing Your Life, Managing Your Time"
Golden View Hotel
Jalan Bengkong Laut
Batam, Indonesia 29433

=====================================

Your say!
Want to respond to this ecommentary?

1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
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truth in love to edify.

Or

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or start a discussion. (Url:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102095941679)

===========================================
Ecommentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 21/10. Commentary: No Final Goodbyes

2010-05-31T12:51:23Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 21/10
May 28, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Grace@Work Commentary: No Final Goodbyes
By Soo-Inn Tan

Just came back from a three week trip to the Pacific North West --- Vancouver and Seattle, with a side trip to Calgary. We made a similar trip last year. I can summarise this trip in two words --- work, and friends. Work, well, the volume of work this time was about three times that of last year. This meant less time for stuff like sight seeing and shopping. But, like last year, we had many opportunities to visit with friends. There were old friends and new friends, good friends who became close friends, teachers who were now friends, and mentorees who were now peers and our teachers. We feasted on friendship, and as we have long discovered, friendship is life giving, as important as food and water.

A large part of friendship is the sharing of our stories. Friendship is built and strengthened and enjoyed when we open our lives to each other. This requires honest sharing and careful listening and both require energy. And so yes, there were times when the many meet ups did tire us but we knew that many of the friends we were seeing were friends we hardly see --- maybe once a year. And so we met up with as many as we could.

Good byes were awkward. There were the usual promises to meet up again next year --- we seem to be making one trip to North America a year --- or sooner for those who were planning to come by Asia. Dr. J. I. Packer took us for lunch at the Cheshire Cheese Inn and promised to do so again the next time we were in town. One friend wrote on Facebook after we left (we had stayed with them): '"Your" room looks very empty. Loved having you visit us and meeting your friends!' But will we meet again this side of heaven? We don't know. All promises to meet again have the unarticulated proviso: Insha'Allah/Deo Volente/if the Lord is willing (James 4:15).

As the old Sergio Mendes song reminds us: "The Trouble with Hello is Goodbye." Fortunately, for followers of Jesus, there are no final goodbyes. We have a lasting bond.

[We are friends of Jesus not in a sentimental fashion, but as participants in the divine life. If we dare to claim boldly that friendship, then we can also trust in the lasting bond among each other. This mutual friendship is the splendid fruit of our kinship with Jesus. It is much more than an idea. Rather, this friendship is a tangible reality. (Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak, New York, NY: Doubleday, 1988, 185.)]

The apostle Paul also had to assure the believers in the church at Thessalonica that though some of their own had died, and Christ had not yet returned, there would be no final goodbyes for those who belong to the Lord.

[Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 NET)]

I. Howard Marshall comments:

[ . . . the Lord's people go to meet him in order to escort him back to the earth and that is where they shall always be with the Lord. . . . What matters, however, is not the place of meeting, in which Paul is not interested, but the fact of being with the Lord. . . . Moreover, this relationship is one which involves Christ and his people as a whole and is not simply between Christ and the individual Christian. It follows that the parousia leads to the reunion of dead and living Christians in the one people of the Lord. (1 and 2 Thessalonians, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1983, 131)]

Tempus fugit. Indeed time flies. We have been back in Singapore three days and already in the thick of things here. Quickly the demands of the now and the morrow begin to crowd out the memories of our trip. But there is a glow, a warmth that remains, a memory of people we left behind, precious friends, treasures. And once in awhile we pause to remember and remember how many dear friends we have in Vancouver, Seattle, and now Calgary also, and other parts of Canada.

We miss you all, and hope we can meet again soon. Next year? Sooner? Or at the final reunion? Well, we will meet again. No final goodbyes. So Dr. Packer, next year at the Cheshire Cheese Inn, or at another establishment, or at the Final Banquet! No final goodbyes.

===============================
Announcement

Lecture and Book Launch of Bribery & Corruption by Rev Hwa Yung

Date: Thursday, 03 June 2010 (This Thursday!)
Time: 8.00pm - 10.00pm
Location: Luther Centre 6, Jalan Utara Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

I hope all our friends in the Klang Valley will plan to come. I think this is a key topic by a dear brother at a crucial point in our nation's history. Please help us by passing the word along.

==================================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

===================================
Ministering this Sunday June 6

Evangel Christian Church

�Treasures in Jars of Clay� (2 Corinthians 4: 1-18)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

===================================

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Grace@Work Mail 20/10: I Say Po-tay-to You Say Po-tah-to (A Graceworks ministry)

2010-05-23T15:50:32Z

GRACE@WORK MAIL 20/10
May 21, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: I Say Po-tay-to You Say Po-tah-to
By Soo-Inn Tan

One of my favourite movies is Black Rain (1989) with Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia and a number of great Japanese actors. (A large part of the movie takes place in Japan.) The cinematography is beautiful, breathtaking at times. You expect that of a Ridley Scott movie. One of the things I really like about the movie is how the Michael Douglas character and his Japanese counterpart, played by Ken Takakura, learn from each other, and from each other's cultures. Of course they had to clash first. Here is an early exchange in the movie:

Matsumoto Masahiro (Ken Takakura): "Perhaps you should think less of yourself and more of your group, try to work like in Japanese. I grew up with your soldiers; you were wise then. Now - music and movies are all America is good for. We make the machines, we build the future, we won the peace.

Nick Conklin (Michael Douglas): "And if there was ONE of you guys who had an original idea, you'd be so tight that you couldn't even pull it out of your a__!"

By the end of the movie, the Ken Takakura character learns about personal initiative and taking risks ("sometimes you have to go for it"), and the Michael Douglas character learns about honour and ethics. Stereotypes I am sure but nicely done.

Last week I was part of a dialogue called "Ministering in a Bicultural Context." Essentially it was a dialogue that looked at how leaders and ministries from Western culture and from Chinese culture can better understand each other and improve how they work together. My first thought was that the dialogue was framed in a way that didn't take seriously the many cultures within "Western culture" (look at the differences between Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y for example) and the many cultures within "Chinese culture" (imagine a Chinese professional during the Cultural Revolution and a Chinese professional today). It seemed to me that instead of plunging into what was potentially an emotional and involved debate, we should have first worked at what should be a Christian approach to culture.

I believe a biblical approach to culture is to aim at the transformation or renewal of culture. Here is how Loren Wilkinson puts it:

[The pattern of salvation is not the rejection of creation --- and the cultural worlds we make from it --- but rather their restoration. God's purposes in world-making men and women are restored, and through them, his purposes for the whole creation. It is not only individuals that are "made new." That personal renewal in Christ makes changes in the culture as well . . . Isaiah speaks of personal righteousness reaching out into cultural healing, promising that God's people would "rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations" and "be called repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings" (Is 58:12).
(Loren Wilkinson, �Culture,� The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity eds Robert Banks & R Paul Stevens, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997, 263.)]

This makes sense. Since human beings are created by God we would expect to see elements of God's character in every culture. At the same time sin has marred all cultures and there are things in every culture that are not of God. It seems right that a biblical approach to culture, is not to deny it or destroy it or to accept it uncritically, but to let all cultures be leavened by the righteousness of God, letting God's truth remove all that is not of Him and reinforcing what is of Him. In this way I do not have to leave my culture behind when I become a follower of Jesus. Instead I let the Lord purify my culture so that I can be enriched by what is good and God in my culture and make that treasure available to folks from other cultures, both folks from within the community of believers, and to society at large.

I may be wrong and I am open to correction but it seems to me that if one became a Muslim, to a large degree, one has to embrace Arabic culture and language. On the other hand I have seem much of what passes as Christian culture in Asia as essentially Western expressions of the faith. It seems we have a long way to go in understanding a biblical approach to culture and in working at redeeming our cultures so that we can let our different cultures be made available for the enrichment of all.

In an increasingly global world, peoples and their cultures are increasingly in a "in your face mode." More than ever we need to think through how folks from different cultures should relate to each other, to minimise conflict and so that we can learn from each other for the benefit of all. If the church of Jesus Christ, with her commitment to unity with diversity, and a healthy approach to culture, can show the way, it will a powerful statement, both of the power and of the inclusiveness of the gospel. Can you imagine how crazy it was trying to bring together Jewish culture and Greek culture in the early church? It was only possible in Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22). Precisely.

=========================================
The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

=========================================
Ministering this weekend

May 23
Westminster Chapel
Sunday Morning Worship
�Spiritual Friendship Revisited� (Lk 24:13-35)
8:30 am
10:00 am
11:30 am
13646 NE 24th Street
Bellevue, WA 98005
USA

=================================

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Grace@Work 19/10: Asking the Right Questions (A Graceworks Ministry)

2010-05-16T04:23:14Z

GRACE@WORK MAIL 19/10
May 14, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Asking the Right Questions
By Soo-Inn Tan

It is very infuriating to talk with Jesus. You ask Him a question and He replies with another question. Or He tells you a story. Or he gives you an answer to a question you didn't ask to begin with. Remember Jesus' encounter with the religious expert in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25 - 37)? Here is a part of that exchange:

[Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you understand it?" The expert answered, �Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, �And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, �A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:25-30 NET)]

When the expert in the law asked "who is my neighbour" he was asking who was deserving of his love since to inherit eternal life one had to love one's neighbour as well as to love God. If the expert in the law was a very strict Jew he could have limited "neighbour" to his immediate family. If he was more open he would consider everyone in his tribe a neighbour. If he was even more open he would have considered all Jews his neighbours. Perhaps he was one of those who considered all Jews his neighbours and qualified to receive his help. If that be the case he was hoping Jesus would teach this and he would be commended for already trying to do so.

But Jesus does not answer his question at all. Jesus tells a story where the "villains" are the religious establishment of the day and the "hero" is a Samaritan, hated by Jews as racially and spiritually impure. The expert in the law asked "who is my neighbour?(v.29)" Jesus asks and elicits the answer to a totally different question: "who is a neighbour to broken people? (v.36)"

The expert in the law had the right theology. Indeed he was already more enlightened than many off his peers. He knew that the one who inherited eternal life was one who was clear about the two primary relationships of life. The person who inherited eternal life was the one who loved God with all his life and who also loved his neighbour. But while right belief is important it is not enough. Right theology must transform and lead to right action. Jesus had made it clear that loving God and loving neighbour was something you do, not just something you know (v. 28).

In asking who was a neighbour, that is who were those who qualified to receive his love, the expert in the law showed that he did not understand the implications of what he believed. The point is not "who deserves my love." The point is, "what kind of person am I?" If I am a person who truly loves God and neighbour, I will be neighbourly to all those who need help. Indeed, the implication is that whether you are Jew or Gentile, religious establishment or regular folk, you know that you will inherit eternal life if you show your love for God by showing mercy to people in need.

This past week I have had the privilege of being part of the Annual Conference of the Canadian Chinese Alliance Churches Association (CCACA) held in Calgary. My main duty was to speak to a symposium for the pastors of the English speaking congregations in the CCACA. There was also time set apart for a dialogue between the pastors who ministered in English with those who ministered in Chinese. One of the questions raised was, in going forward, should churches aligned with the CCACA reach out primarily to Chinese folk or should they reach out to people irrespective of race?

Most churches in the CCACA functioned in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, or in some combination of the three languages. Language was a natural guide to whom the CCACA churches could reach. However while ministries in Cantonese and Mandarin usually meant that the target of ministries in those languages were Chinese, ministries in English could reach people from a wide variety of racial backgrounds. The question then was should churches in the CCACA reach out to non-Chinese? Answers ranged from those who believed that CCACA had a special calling to the Chinese irrespective of what languages they used (Cantonese, Mandarin, English), to those who believed that multi racial, multi cultural congregations was the way of the future.

Since I am from a different part of the world (Singapore-Malaysia) and ignorant of the nuances of the debate here in Canada, I didn't feel qualified to really participate in the debate, one that had been going on long before my visit to Calgary and one which will continue after I have left. But somehow I found my mind turning to the Parable of the Good Samaritan as I heard my CCACA brethren discuss who should be the recipients of their ministry. If we truly believe that the Word of God is the final authority for our life and ministry (2 Timothy 3:16-17), I can't help but feel that Jesus' discussion with the expert on the law had lessons for all of us, whichever part of the globe we come from,

When I get back to Singapore-Malaysia at the end of the month, I will struggle afresh as to the degree the churches in my part of the world have fully understood the lessons from the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It seems that one of the signs that we truly belong to God's community, is that we show mercy to all who need it whom the Lord puts in our way, irrespective of race or social status, indeed even to those who hate us. Before I even begin to comment on how others have heard the lessons of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, I must first look at my own heart.

============================

The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by Chong Kwong Tek and Goldie of FGA Marketplace, Perth.

====================================
Ministering this weekend
May 16
Granville Chapel
Sunday Morning Worship
�Footwashing Leadership� (John 13:1-17)
10:00 am
5901 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6M 3C9

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Grace@Work Mail 18/10: Friends. Friends? (A Graceworks Ministry)

2010-05-05T23:04:48Z

GRACE@WORK MAIL 18/10
May 7, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Friends. Friends?
By Soo-Inn Tan

"You have 500 friends on facebook. How many friends do you have?"

If it sounds like a trick question, the joke is on us. We live in an age where we talk a lot about friendship but experience little real friendship. As William Deresiewicz observes:

[Already the characteristically modern relationship, (friendship) has in recent decades become the universal one: the form of connection in terms of which all others are understood . . . Romantic partners refer to each other as boyfriends and girlfriends. Spouses boast they are best friends. Parents urge their young children and beg their teenage ones to think of them as friends. Teachers, clergy, and even bosses seek to mitigate their authority by asking those they oversee to regard them as friends. ("Faux Friendship," Utne Reader, May - June 2010, 38)]

But as Deresiewicz goes on to point out;

[. . . it seems inevitable that once we decided to become friends with everyone, we would forget how to be friends with anyone. We may pride ourselves today on our aptitude for friendship, but it is not clear that we still even know what it means. ("Faux Friendship," 38.)]

Surely we fool ourselves if we think that putting someone on a list of friends automatically makes that person one. In order to know people we have to listen to their stories, and we need to share ours. And this takes " . . . patience, devotion, sensitivity, subtlety, skill . . . (Deresiewicz, 41)," and time. It also takes trust. Therefore one test of a friendship is the level of communication that marks that relationship. Roberta Hestenes and others point out that there are five levels of communication:

[
Level 1: Cliche conversation. This is the superficial chit-chat level of talking which focuses on safe topics such as the weather, sporting events, local happenings, etc.

Level 2: Sharing of information and facts. At this level people talk about events, ideas and facts, but not yet really about themselves.

Level 3: Sharing of ideas and opinions. There is more willingness at this level to share one's own personal ideas and opinions. This takes a bit more risk.

Level 4: Sharing of feelings. At this level people are wiling to risk telling other (people) . . . what they are feeling, not just what they are thinking. These feelings may be positive or negative.

Level 5: Peak communication. This is the deepest level of communication when (people) . . . experience strongly their sense of belonging and sharing . . . without defensiveness or barriers. Openness, transparency, and self-disclosure shapes the flow of the conversation (at this level).
(Roberta Hestenes, Using the Bible in Groups, Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1983, 96-97)]

Good friends should be able to communicate at levels three, four and five. Of course they can talk about sports too, but they can also communicate at much deeper levels when needed. Based on the communication level test, I suspect most of us have few intimate friends. We probably have friends running a continuum from casual to very close, but few really close friends. Some of us may have no close friends at all. And it is killing us.

Recently I emailed a friend, not very close, but one with whom I had grown to like and respect. He is a leader in his church. He usually responds to my weekly commentaries but I had not heard from him for a long time. I knew that his wife had cancer and had undergone treatment. I wondered how he was. His reply pained me.

First he said he was surprised and encouraged that a "busy minister" like me had time to remember him. This surprised me. I had not contacted him in a very long time. He reported that his wife was recovering well but that he was in the midst of his own serious health struggles. This was the line that floored me:

[Not many people even bother to ask, including pastors and �friends� from my church !! Either they don�t know how to or don�t care, or both.]

There is no need to guess who my friend is or the church he comes from. I am not trying to run down any church. What my friend went through could happen in any of our churches. I just use the above exchange to illustrate the point that in the church or in the world, we are increasingly friendless.

In his book Vital Friends, Tom Rath writes:

[In summarizing the latest research from the Duke study and our own, it looks like we might not need an extraordinarily wide breadth of friends; it is likely to be the quality of our friendships that matters most. Each person needs a few very deep friendships to thrive. As you might suspect, lonely people suffer psychologically and physically. The absence of high-quality friendships is bad for our health, spirits, productivity, and longevity. (New York, NY:Gallup Press, 2006, 26.)]

Hard scientific research tells us that we need friends. But it appears that we can get by with with a few friends if they are really close ones. Few of us will have the time to sustain many close friendships. But we do need that one or two. And how do we know that they are close? Try the levels of communication test.

Scripture has already told us:

[Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor. For if they fall, one will help his companion up but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm but how can one person keep warm by himself? Although an assailant may overpower one person, two can withstand him. Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.(Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NET)]

I think it is great to have friends on facebook. Latest count I have 755. But what we really need are that two or three intimate friends to journey with. I am grateful I have more than three.

=================================
The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by Chong Kwong Tek and Goldie of FGA Marketplace, Perth.

====================================
Ministering this weekend
May 9
Richmond Chinese Alliance Church
Sunday Worship Service
�Mothers� Day Lessons from the Life of Rebekah�
9:00 am
10,100 No. 1 Road
Richmond, BC
Canada V7E 1S2

=====================================
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Grace@Work Mail 17/10: Our Friend Has Fallen Asleep (A Graceworks Ministry)

2010-04-29T11:28:45Z

GRACE@WORK MAIL 17/10
April 30, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Our Friend Has Fallen Asleep
By Soo-Inn Tan

My bible reading this morning (April 28) was the account of the death and raising of Lazarus from John 11: 1-44. What has always struck me about this passage is that Jesus purposely delayed going to see His sick friend so that Lazarus would die. Jesus allowed His friend to die. The passage makes it clear that Jesus loved Lazarus and His sisters (John 11:5). Permitting Lazarus to die was not a failure of His love. And it obviously was not a failure of His power as Jesus would return Lazarus to earthly life after he had been dead for four days. Jesus deliberately allowed His friend to die but He had His reasons. He did it so that God may be glorified (v. 4) and so that His disciples would believe that He truly was the Son of God. (v. 14-15).

I needed this passage this morning (one of many divinely timed readings that I have experienced through life) because Jesus let my friend Alvin, die. Sharon, Alvin's wife, messaged me on Friday 23 April to inform me that Alvin had suffered a major heart attack (on Wednesday, 21 April), to ask for prayer. Ronnie, an elder from Alvin's church messaged me on 27 April morning to let me know that Alvin had passed on at 7.15 am that morning. I had already got the news from an entry on Facebook. I was struck by deep grief. Alvin was 41.

I remember Alvin for many things. But most of all I remember him for his kindness. He first entered my life at a very dark chapter of my life. I was recovering from depression, trying to raise two boys on my own, and launching a new ministry. Alvin was my web designer, hosted my web site, and set up the mailing list programme that I use to this day, the one used to send this e-commentary. He tolerated my many panic calls when there was something wrong with my web site or with the mailing list. He gave me free office space in his office. He and his church elders allowed me to minister in their church at a time when few churches accepted me. He was my friend.

We have kept in touch through the years. When the Lord led me to live in Singapore, we didn't get to meet that often. But we would meet up at least once a year, when I saw him to drop off my payment for the previous year's web service. We would have lunch, talk about stuff ranging from comic books, to the joys of motorcycle riding, to nice places to eat --- the usual things that boys of all ages talk about. We also spent a lot of time talking about what it meant to follow Jesus, and about ministry.

Alvin talked a lot about ministry the last few times we met. He felt the Lord moving him out of the web business to the business of shepherding His flock. Alvin began to study part time at a seminary. Last year the church ordained him, recognising God's call to him to be a pastor. It was one of the highlights of my life and ministry to be invited to be part of that ordination service.

Recently, he had merged his company with another. I was told that he did this to free himself to pastor full time. He had a sign from the Lord that it was time. Did I mention that He had this radical faith in God that led him to obey Him whatever the cost? I am not sure what was the sign that he received but apparently Alvin got one thing wrong. Yes, Alvin had been called to serve the Lord full time in church, but not on earth. He was called to serve God with perfect service in heaven.

I didn't want Alvin to die. He and Sharon had five children. He and Sharon had a very special marriage. He was on the verge of an exciting new phase of his life. Besides, who will I go to with my web problems now? No, I didn't want Alvin to die. So I prayed for His healing. And so did many people.

But as in the case of Lazarus, Jesus let Alvin die. I know it was not because Jesus didn't love Alvin or that he didn't have the power to heal him. I know Jesus has His reasons just as He did when He allowed Lazarus to die, although I am not sure what they are at this time. I have absolutely no doubts that Alvin is with Jesus now, and that he will be there in that final glorious resurrection. We will continue our conversations then. I just wish I didn't miss him so much.

=============================================
The Grace@Work Commentary is read by about 30,000 people weekly.
If you would like to know how you can help sponsor this work, please email us for details. Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

This week's commentary is sponsored by a friend who chooses to remain anonymous.

=========================================

Ministering this weekend

Mount Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church
152 West Coast Road,
Singapore 127370

Saturday, 1st May, 5.30 pm (Joy Chapel)
Sunday, 2nd May, 9.30am and 11.15 am (Hope Sanctuary)

Sermon: the Salt and Light Mandate
Matthew 5: 13-16

========================

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