Soo-Inn Tan

GRACEWORKS MAIL 9/11. Commentary: A Long Pregnancy

2011-03-13T21:07:02Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 9/11
March 7, 2011.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: A Long Pregnancy
By Soo-Inn Tan

This week began with the death of a friend from church. It ends with the horrific scenes of the damage from the tsunami that hit Japan. Meanwhile the conflict in Libya continues. And we are still trying to come to terms with the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Minister of Minority Affairs. It has been a Matthew 24 week.

[As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:3-14 NIV)]

I don’t need to be a prophet to predict that there will be those who will give us what they believe to be God’s specific reasons for the tsunami that hit Japan and how it impacts the timing of Jesus’ Second Coming. But if we are to take Jesus at His word, we are not encouraged to speculate on the actual time of His Second Coming or to read too much into signs (Matthew 24:36-44). All we are told is that certain things will happen as reminders that He will return to usher in the Kingdom of God in its fullness, bringing with it the promise of healing and wholeness for all creation. Craig L. Blomberg comments:

[Like a woman’s contractions before her labor and delivery, these preliminary events remind one of the nearness and inevitability of Christ’s return. But just as a woman may experience false labor and just as genuine contractions still leave her uncertain about the exact time of delivery, so too the events of vv. 4-8 do not enable us to predict the time of Christ’s coming . . . Yet in spite of all these disasters and difficulties, Christians must not be alarmed; the end is still to come. Brunner makes the pastoral comment, “In times of crisis, Christians should be the calmest people on the block because they have a dominical pax (divine peace). “ (Matthew, Nashville, TN:Broadman Press, 1992,354).]

As a man, I will never have the privilege of experiencing the mystery of carrying a child and of giving birth. I was present at the birth of my second child and I remember the pain, the blood, time that seemed to go on and on, and finally the joy of welcoming a new life into the world. When Jesus compares His coming with childbirth, He gives us a perspective to understand the pains of this world. They are a reminder that He will come again. Unlike religions that see life as going around in circles, or those that believe that things will just go on and on without end, Jesus tells us that, as a baby comes at the end of a pregnancy, He will surely come again. Birth pangs may be painful but they are a potent reminder of what lies at the end of it all.

But what are we to do in the meantime? Jesus calls His people to stand firm and to be vigilant. We need to hold firm to the gospel and to the demands of the gospel. This does not mean we are called to dramatic heroic deeds. Often it may just mean that we are faithful to our daily duties --- we do our work, we raise our families, we bless our friends. Once in a while, being faithful will mean giving our lives, like Shahbaz Bhatti. But faithful we must be. “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful (Corinthians 4:2 NIV)).”

In the midst of birth pains, Jesus also assumes that we will be faithfully preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. It is good to be reminded that the gospel is about a kingdom --- not just about buying some spiritual life insurance that kicks in when we die. God is going to usher in a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1-4). “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4 NIV).” We call people to an allegiance to the King so that we can be part of His coming Kingdom.

The pains of our world belong to the old order. They serve a purpose in pointing us back to the past, a reminder of the tragedy where humankind rejected their rightful King. But they also point us toward the future, when the rightful King will come back and make all things right again. In the meantime, they call us to be faithful.

I read that the death toll from the tsunami may be as high as 1,600. I find it hard to put my mind around a figure like that. I also hear that there has been an explosion at a nuclear plant in an area affected by the tsunami. My heart is numbed. But I pray. I ask the Lord what I can do to help. I hope that somehow the tragedies point people to the Lord. And I do something I rarely do. I echo John’s prayer in Revelation 22:20 --- “Come Lord Jesus!”

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

Graceworks updates
1. This is probably the last ecommentary in plain text. The next ecommentary will be in html.
2. There will no longer be a separate graceatwork mailing list. This will be integrated to the Graceworks website mailing list. If you have been receiving the ecommentary you will automatically be made a member of the Graceworks website. You will be assigned a generic password. You could then log in and change the password if you so desire.
3. As a member of the Graceworks website, you will have access to the archives of the ecommentaries, you will be able to purchase from the Graceworks e-store, and you will receive the weekly ecommentary in your inbox.
Check out the Graceworks website in the meantime: www.graceworks.com.sg

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This week's commentary is sponsored by Georgetown Baptist Church, Penang. (http://www.gbcpg.org/)

===================================
Ministering this weekend
13 March
Bukit Panjang Gospel Chapel
Adult Bible Class
"The Salt and Light Mandate: The Ministry of Daily Work"
1:00 - 2:15pm
12 Galistan Avenue,
Singapore 669686
======================================

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 8/11. Commentary: Going Back in Time

2011-03-03T11:10:51Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 8/11
February 28, 2011.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Going Back in Time
By Soo-Inn Tan

I�m goin� back in time
And it�s a sweet dream
It was a quiet night
And I would be all right
If I could go on sleepin�
(�Best of My Love,� Eagles, 1974)

Last week Bernice gave me an early birthday treat. She got us tickets to the Eagles concert held in the Indoor Stadium here in Singapore. We got more than our money�s worth. The concert started a bit late and there was a fifteen-minute intermission. Otherwise it was three solid hours of high-energy performance. As one reviewer said, it would have been easier to name which of their hit songs they did not sing. The Eagles just went from one hit song to another, hitting all the right notes with their voices and their instruments. I hope I am that energetic when I hit my sixties. (I assume they were not aided by banned pharmaceutical substances.)

They included a number of songs from their latest album, Long Road Out of Eden (2007). Long Road Out of Eden is a great album that won a number of awards and went platinum. The songs they chose from the double album were excellent: well crafted, mature lyrics, great harmony, beautifully sung. But the audience response to these songs was tentative at best. Many in the audience probably never heard of Long Road Out of Eden. A large proportion of the audience were middle aged and they were there for �Hotel California,� �Lyin� Eyes� and �Desperado.� They were there to listen to songs from the soundtrack of their lives. They were there for nostalgia.

Nothing beats a familiar smell, or a familiar song, for evoking memories. Middle-aged folks like me are suckers for nostalgia. For one, we are more aware of our mortality. For another, the challenges at our chapter of life make us yearn for a simpler time. We can�t go back in time but we can visit the past through concerts which feature songs from our younger days. Nostalgia can be addictive, hence the large number of aging rock stars still on tour. Their primary audience are baby boomers wanting regular fixes of nostalgia and able to pay for it.

But nostalgia should be taken in small doses at best. Too much nostalgia robs us of our lives in the present, our real-time lives. As Gordon T. Smith helpfully points out:

[There is nothing to be gained by nostalgic sentimentalism or by living in the past, regretfully wishing that things had been different. We must look back, but we look back so that we can be fully present to the current situation, to the current moment, to the real circumstances of our current life situation. (Courage & Calling, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999, 109)]

Besides, the good old days may not have been all that good. Our memories are selective, editing out the more painful parts of our past, and keeping only the pleasant memories. What we remember may be a psychologically �air-brushed� picture of what really happened.

Does that mean that nostalgia is always wrong? I guess it depends on why we travel to the past.

[Nostalgia can be used as an attempt to reconstruct an idealized past with the awareness of the impossibility of going back. These are expressions about thriving in a distant past that is long gone, and yearning for the things that are lost with feelings of uncertainty about the present. Or nostalgia can be used as a point of reference and evoked to express a person's feelings about themselves and a present situation by way of comparison. (R. Douglas Fields, �Looking through Rose Colored Glasses�Does Nostalgia Make You Old?� The New Brain, Psychology Today, December 31, 2010.)]

Do I want to go back to some earlier part of my life? No. I am grateful for what I know now, about God, about life, about myself. I wouldn�t trade all this for a relocation to some previous part of my history. The wisdom I have now is critical to my life and ministry. It is wisdom gleaned from many painful mistakes, a harvest reaped from the sowing of tears and regrets. I wouldn�t want to go through all that again.

And so in a week when I celebrate my fifty-sixth birthday, I look back on my life and see the grace of God at every turn, a God who did not treat me as I deserved, but was merciful again and again. As I approach my fifty-sixth birthday, I hear the apostle Paul calling to me:

[Not that I have already attained this � that is, I have not already been perfected � but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14, NET)]

On my fifty-sixth birthday, I celebrate that I am safely held by Jesus, I take a deep breath, and press on to all that He has in store for me. Great concert though.

===================================
Graceworks updates
1. Revamped website ready!! (www.graceworks.com.sg) Check it out!
2. Revamped weekly newsletter should be ready soon.

================================
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The Graceworks 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:
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This week's commentary is sponsored by the Center for Christian Entrepreneurship. (http://69.50.222.58/pub/cce/index.shtml)

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Ministering this weekend

March 6, 2011.
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Worship Service
�The Fullness of Hunger� (Mt. 5:6)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

==========================
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 7/11. Commentary: Death vs Love

2011-02-22T22:44:51Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 7/11
February 21, 2011.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Death vs Love
By Soo-Inn Tan

Recently I have been thinking if I should get a motorbike and ride again. The last time I rode one was a long time ago. Bike riders understand this longing. Riding a bike is so different from driving a car. When you go about in a car, you are essentially moving around in a box, shielded from the world. To ride a bike is to be one with your machine and one with the world. You cannot get this feeling in a car. I have long thought that I would like to ride one more time before I die. My dear wife, who loves me deeply, is afraid that if I ride I will die. I can fully understand her apprehension seeing the stats of accidents that involve motorcyclists. And I now have the reflexes of a middle-aged man, not the reflexes of one in his physical prime if there ever was such a time. I must add that my darling wife says that if I insist on riding again she will ride pillion with me. I don�t deserve this woman.

My desire to ride again has been further fuelled recently by an advertising clip making its rounds on YouTube and Facebook. I am sure you have seen it. If not check out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vksdBSVAM6g) It�s an advertisement for a Taiwan bank though it claims to be based on a true story. Essentially the story is about five friends, average age 81, who suddenly wake up to their mortality when one of their number, another friend, dies. Apparently there was also a girl in the group who had married one of them, who had also passed away. In a very accurate portrayal of life at this age, we are told that one of them is virtually deaf, one has terminal cancer, three have heart disease, and all have degenerative arthritis. They decide to go on one last road trip, rather than just hanging around waiting for death. The question that this advertising clip poses: �What do people live for?�

This YouTube clip has reduced grown men to tears. Last I checked it has been seen 781, 659 times. In many ways the clip is clich�d and predictable. Why has it touched so many? For one it was well made. For another it was cold water in the face of a world jaded and tired, anaesthetized from life and death. Many of us are numb just from trying to survive from day to day. We have no time or energy to think or to feel. Many don�t know what they are living for as evidenced by many of the comments in response to the clip. And we have become experts at avoiding the question of death. Because it is so sad. Because we have no answers. The clip acts like one of Jesus�s parables. It draws you in and you are caught, confronted afresh with the age-old questions of life and death, and �what is life for anyway?� It�s a modern summary of the message of Ecclesiastes.

The film clip holds a clue to the answer of the question it poses. No, the meaning of life is not to go on a motorcycle road trip. If life has meaning, it must have something to do with relationships. One theme underlines the story --- love. We are moved by the friends� love for each other. We see them helping each other on their trip. And we are moved by their love for those who have passed on. Perhaps that is the tragedy of being human. We were created for love. But love is defeated by death. No matter how meaningful our relationships, they are ultimately ended by death. And the best this world can offer is memory and nostalgia. In the words of Simon and Garfunkel:

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you
(Bookends)

At the end of it all, all we have left are memories? This is really sad, because at the end, even memories fail you. Which may be why we prefer to numb ourselves with the frenetic pace of modern life.

But there is another story, one that comes into prominence during the Holy Week of Good Friday and Easter but is re-enacted every time the church celebrates the Lord�s Supper. It is a story with a different ending, a happy ending, an ending that gives life and hope. It is a story where love defeats death. Here is one account of that story in the words of an old confession of faith:

[I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I�m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God�s church. (1 Corinthians 15:3-9 NLT)]

Jesus died but was raised from the dead. Love defeats death. In Christ we too are part of this happy ending. And so while we may be moved by the story in the YouTube clip, we know there is another story, a story with a different ending. So we don�t dwell too long in the valley of tears. Love and life await.

So will I ride a motor bike again? Don�t know. Not really that important. I already have what is truly important, love, divine and human, that death will never defeat.

==============================
Graceworks updates
1. Revamped website should be ready by the end of this month. (www.graceworks.com.sg)
2. Revamped weekly newsletter should be ready to roll by mid-March.

================================
Has the ministry of Gracework commentaries helped you? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
The Graceworks 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:
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This week's commentary is sponsored by M T Foo
===================================
Ministering this weekend

February 25
Bethesda Frankel Estate Church
Life Stewardship Seminar Session 1
8:00 � 10:00 pm
4 La Salle Street
Singapore 456930

February 26
Bethesda Frankel Estate Church
Life Stewardship Seminar Session 2
1:00 � 6:00 pm
4 La Salle Street
Singapore 456930

Glad Tidings Church
Spiritual Mentoring Seminar Session 2
7:30 � 9:30 pm
1 Valley Road
Singapore 534449

February 27
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Worship Service
"The Strength in Gentleness" (Mt. 5:5)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

==========================
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 6/11. Commentary: My Biggest Mistake

2011-02-15T09:45:06Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 6/11
February 14, 2011 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

[Graceworks website and revamped Graceworks Mail still undergoing renovations. Here is another plain text commentary in the meantime.]

Commentary: My Biggest Mistake
By Soo-Inn Tan

I was having dinner with some friends I had known since primary school. I hadn�t seen some of them for decades. We had this dinner partly to encourage one of them whose wife was fighting cancer. While we were eating, one of them turned to me and said: �Do you know what was the biggest mistake you made?� Well, I have made a number of major mistakes in my life so I was curious as to which one he was referring to. "You gave up dentistry." What he was saying was that I would have been financially set if I had continued to practice dentistry. (I think the comment was provoked by the fact that he had just gone to see a dentist and had been charged a bomb.) Confession time: The comment hit home, at least for a while.

In the normal course of events, at midlife, you reap the fruit of what you have sowed earlier in life. And I thought, here I am at fifty-five struggling to improve the cash flow of our company, hoping we will break even before Jesus returns. No I do not want to be rich to buy more toys and I have a standard of living which is comfortable by any standard. But just a little more means more provision for our aging parents. Just a bit more would be helpful to get a few more key staff to bring our work to another level, just a little bit more would mean we need not sweat so much when we view our annual accounts. Just a little bit more.

Last Sunday I preached on Matthew 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them (NET)." Again I was confronted by God's preferential treatment for the poor. When Jesus announces the commencement of His public ministry, He quotes Isaiah 61:

�The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and the regaining of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord�s favor.� (NET)

Good news for the poor. Blessed (how fortunate) are the poor in spirit. Seems like I shouldn�t be too disturbed about not being able to have a �little bit more.� In fact it seems like being poor is an advantage. What gives? Anyone who romanticises poverty probably has never been poor before. So how can the poor be fortunate? Well we need to understand how the bible understands the term �poor.� Here is D. A Carson�s helpful explanation about who are the �poor� that the bible refers to.

[(The poor) are those who because of sustained economic privation and social distress have confidence only in God. . . . Far from conferring spiritual advantage, wealth and privilege entail great spiritual peril . . . Yet, though poverty is neither a blessing nor a guarantee of spiritual rewards, it can be turned to advantage if it fosters humility before God. (�Matthew,� The Expositor�s Bible Commentary Volume 8 Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984, 131.)]

The �poor� then are those who �have confidence only in God.� The issue is not material poverty per se. The issue is to have confidence only in God. However the bible is also clear that those who are materially poor are better placed to have this type of confidence. When you are rich you have many options. There is a great temptation to put your confidence in money and the things money can buy. The poor have no options. They can only trust in God. Yet it is this complete trust in God that qualifies them to be members of God�s perfect Kingdom and heirs to all that God wants to give. That means that if I do not have all that I want, I have more room to trust the Lord, and see God at work.

Was it a mistake for me to have given up dentistry? No, for two reasons at least. One, if the only reason I should have continued to practice dentistry was for the money, that would be no reason at all. One benefit of growing older is that you have much more life to look back on. Looking back, it is clear that the Lord has never failed to come through in providing the finances I needed. I recall that when I first decided to give up dentistry to pursue theological studies in Vancouver, I only had the proverbial �one way ticket.� I only had enough money for the ticket to Vancouver. I didn�t even have enough to buy a return ticket. Yet the Lord provided for all our needs and more in the four years we were in Vancouver. And He has provided for my needs ever since. I have no reason to doubt Him now.

The second reason why it wasn�t a mistake to give up dentistry to go into a church related vocation was that dentistry just wasn�t my calling. In the movie The Chariots of Fire (1981), the Eric Liddell character is quoted as saying: �I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.� When I run I get stomach cramps. (Brisk walking is all I can manage). Dental school was really rough for me. But after I graduated and started practice, I grew in confidence and competence and began to enjoy the practice of dentistry. But when I have the opportunity to encourage people with the Word of God, either through preaching, teaching, or mentoring, I do feel His pleasure. I don�t consider dentistry any less spiritual than preaching the Word, and I learnt so much in my sojourn through dentistry. But I am called to encourage people through the Word and the joy of doing what you have been called to do is something no amount of money can buy.

So, was giving up dentistry my greatest mistake? I don�t think it was a mistake at all.

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

Has the ministry of Gracework commentaries helped you? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
The Graceworks 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 M T Foo

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

February 19 (Saturday)
Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church
Small Group Leaders� Training
�Leadership and the Mission of the Church�
9:00 am � 12:00 noon
11 Pasir Ris Drive 2
Singapore 518458

Glad Tidings Church
Spiritual Mentoring Seminar Session 1
7:30 � 9:30 pm
1 Valley Road
Singapore 534449
===============================================

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 5/11. Commentary: Closed for Renovations

2011-02-11T17:43:14Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 5/11
February 7, 2011 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Closed for Renovations
By Soo-Inn Tan

Did you notice that this week's commentary is very late? Do you want to know why? Perhaps it has something to do with the nine hour drive from Penang to KL this past Sunday as we made our way back to Singapore. I really need a vacation to recover from our Lunar New Year vacation. But that is not the reason for this week's late commentary. This disruption to normal service is due to the fact that the Graceworks commentary is undergoing some key changes and may be off for another week or two. Here are two changes:

1. From plain text to HTML
The Graceworks commentary started life as the Grace@Work ecommentary and has been sent out roughly once a week for more than ten years. The conventional wisdom when we first started was to send out mailings in plain text for two reasons: one, not everyone's email client could read HTML (yes there was a time), and two, the fear that HTML documents might carry viruses. Since the ecommentary was content driven, there really was no need for bells and whistles and so plain text has served the purpose well all this while.

But times have changed. Everyone online can read newsletters in HTML now and the plain text commentary looks dull and aesthetically challenged. So when we come back, be prepared for a commentary that is more "pleasing to look at and (still) good for (spiritual) food."

2. Tighter integration with the Graceworks website.
The Graceworks commentary is one of the ministries of Graceworks. We have a website at www.graceworks.com.sg. After the revamp, all on the Grace@Work ecommentary mailing list will be members of Graceworks. You will be assigned a password and you can log in and change your password if you want to. You will still get your commentary delivered to your in-box. After the revamp, subscribing/unsubscribing to the Graceworks commentary will be done through the Graceworks website.

Grace@Work was the ministry I started and ran when I was based in Malaysia. Its mission was to see lives transformed through love and truth. I am now based in Singapore and I run Graceworks together with Bernice. The essential mission remains the same. Graceworks both focuses and expands on Grace@Work. Our mission now is to promote spiritual friendship in church and society and we do it primarily through publishing and training. I will be winding up Grace@Work because it would not make sense to be residing in Singapore and running a ministry based in Malaysia. The taxes alone would make it financially untenable.

Graceworks is a company and we are not allowed to ask for donations. We are sustained by the work we do. One way you can help support our work is to sponsor our weekly commentaries. We continue to be very convicted that the ministry of Graceworks is something that the Lord has called us to do. We have a few key initiatives planned for 2011 including new materials on spiritual friendship and spiritual mentoring. Please pray for us, and let us know if we can partner together in seeing lives transformed by the friendship of Christ through the friendship of our brothers and sisters.

On another note we are stunned that we have lost four friends already this year: Raja, Benny, Mee Hwa and Chee Seng. And it is only February. We know that they are with the Lord and that we will meet again but this takes away only some of the grief. We are challenged afresh to live our lives intentionally.

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

Has the ministry of Gracework commentaries helped you? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
The Graceworks 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 M T Foo

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

February 13
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Worship Service
�Spiritual Bankruptcy� (Mt. 5:3)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552
(Evangel continues its series on the Sermon on the Mount.)

==============================
Your say!
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===========================================
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Newer ecommentaries are also posted at
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 4/11. Commentary: Learning to Walk Slower

2011-01-31T22:23:27Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 4/11
January 31, 2011 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Learning to Walk Slower
By Soo-Inn Tan

Recently I read an article that said people who walk faster tend to live longer. This is good news as I tend to walk fast. I was reminded of this when I was at a meeting with a friend at the botanical gardens (Singapore) recently and he said �slow down, don�t walk like a Singaporean. Walk like a Malaysian. Take time to take in the surroundings.� (My friend is a Singaporean.) Well, I am not sure that Singaporeans walk faster than Malaysians but the point was taken. I took a deep breath, slowed down, and rediscovered the beauty of the botanical gardens. There is so much you miss when you rush.

I have also been learning to walk slower from my parents --- my mum and Bernice�s parents. They are in their eighties and are walking much slower now. If I am to walk with them, then I have to walk slower. I don�t think they will be walking at my pace again even if they wanted to. But I can walk at their pace. Indeed I have to if I am to journey with them, literally and metaphorically. Growing old is not for wimps. We are seeing first hand the physical, emotional and spiritual challenges at this stage of life. Bernice and I are no heroes but we are committed to loving our parents as best we can. We are learning what that means. The lessons have not always been easy. For me, it has included learning to walk slower.

Learning to walk slower has also helped me to understand God�s love better. Yesterday I was preaching in Christ Church, Ayer Itam. I was preaching on one of my favourite passages, Jesus and His encounter with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:13 � 35). I imagine the two disciples walking slowly, weighed down with grief. Jesus comes and walks alongside them, walking at their pace. He doesn�t walk ahead and expect them to keep up. He walks at their pace. He also accommodates Himself to their pace of spiritual understanding.

The two disciples were �foolish� and �slow of heart� (Luke 24:45). Jesus chided them and taught them. But He didn�t write them off. He walked at their pace of spiritual understanding until their �ah-ha� moment (Luke 24:31). Jesus shows us that if you love someone you walk at their pace and He expects us to follow. We are not surprised then that when Paul expounds on love in 1 Corinthians 13, the first thing he tells us about love is that love is patient (1 Corinthians 13:4).

I preached from 1 Corinthians 13 at a wedding this past Saturday. It is tough to preach on 1 Corinthians especially with Bernice in the congregation. As I preached I was reminded afresh of how far short I fell of the ideals I was expounding, especially the parts that said love �is not easily angered" (1 Corinthians 13:5) and that love is �patient.� I hope I am not fooling myself when I say I am much better now than I was ten years ago. I need to be. Patience is a key virtue for those who have grown up. Babies have no patience. If they are hungry they cry until they get their milk. Adults have learnt to postpone gratification when needed. Adults know what it means to be patient.

The call to walk slowly is totally countercultural in a day and age that worships speed and efficiency. But to love someone is to walk alongside them. It helps to remember that we love because God loved us first (1 John 4:19). If God had not chosen to walk with us and show us the way home we would have been lost. Now, when we choose to walk with people, we are merely passing it forward. Followers of Jesus are people called to a life of agape love. That includes choosing to walk with people at their pace. And different people are slow in different ways. Just as each of us is foolish and slow of heart in our own ways. But if we love someone we will walk with them.

There is another pay off to walking slowly. A God who took His time in sending His Messiah after the sin of Adam and Eve, a God who speaks in a still small voice, is neither fast nor loud. When we choose to walk slower we may find that we are walking at God�s pace. Suddenly we are more aware of His presence, more in touch with His voice and His wisdom. Silly as it may seem, many of us are walking ahead of the Lord. We are marching more to the beat of the spirit of the age than to His beat. And we wonder why we are often lost and confused.

So many reasons to learn to walk slower.

================================
A Blessed Lunar New Year to all who are celebrating!

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

Do you think the ministry of Gracework commentaries is important? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
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 M T Foo

==============================
Ministering this weekend
February 6
Georgetown Baptist Church
Sunday Worship Service
�The Year of the Lord� (Luke 4:16-30)
9am & 11am
14, Jalan Larut,
Penang.
Tel: 604-2297757 , 604-2287110

===============================
Your say!
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www.graceworks.com.sg.
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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)

===========================================
Grace@Work commentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 3/11. Commentary: A Take Away from Two Deaths.

2011-01-24T23:52:17Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 3/11
January 24, 2011 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: A Take Away from Two Deaths.
By Soo-Inn Tan

People die every day. Including friends. But when you read about the death of a friend, your first reaction is usually one of disbelief. Last Friday I read a poem posted on Facebook that looked like a eulogy for a friend. If I had been an objective reader I wouldn�t have doubted that it was a eulogy. But the poem was about a friend. And I didn�t want this friend to be dead and so I doubted if it was a eulogy. And so I messaged the friend who had written the poem. �Has something happened to Raja?� Answer: �Yes, he died this morning in London, where he was undergoing open-heart surgery . . .�

I first met Raja Segran at a church camp in 2006. But we had known about each other for a long time. Common friends helped us keep track of each other�s journeys. And so when we first met it felt very much like two old friends meeting up again. Raja came from Alor Setar and had risen to serve in various senior positions in SIA (Singapore Airlines). But when God directed him into church-based ministry he obeyed and served on staff with a key church in Singapore. And then the Lord moved him back to market place work and again he obeyed. He was stationed in Europe. Here was a man of integrity who knew he was a servant of the Almighty and lived his life in obedience.

After we had met up that first time in 2006, we met up a few more times. He provided much needed wisdom for some decisions I was facing. I will always remember him as a kind and wise man. (And the only one I know who had read the Lord of the Rings more times than me. He had read it eleven times. I have only read it eight times.) You felt stronger and braver because you had a friend like this in your life. When he left for Europe, I told him that I would miss him and looked forward to when we would meet up again. But unless the Lord knows something I don�t, it seems that I will have to wait a bit longer before I see Raja again. Goodbye, again, Raja. I continue to miss you.

It seems that most of us have little control over how and when we die. Over the weekend I read about another death. Here is a report from the Jan 22nd edition of Star Online.

[KUANTAN: A former drug addict sacrificed himself by jumping into the sea to save another man from his church group who was swept away by high tide during an outing at the popular Teluk Chempedak beach here.
The body of Hoh Kun Fatt, 22, from Kampung Baru Ampang, Selangor, was found at 5.11am yesterday near the Hyatt Regency Resort here, about 900m from where he was last seen. Family and church members mourned the death of Hoh, whose last words were: �Save the others!�

Hoh had jumped in to save Pastor Loh Chee Kuang, 38, in the Thursday tragedy. Eyewitness Pastor Chow Kok Min, 42, said Hoh had managed to save himself and hung on to a rock when he spotted Loh submerging � and he jumped right back into the water. Other group members from Charis Youth Centre, Broga, then dived in and managed to pull Loh to safety, said Chow at the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan mortuary. Hoh was nowhere to be seen as the waves continued to hit the shore.
(�Former drug addict gives his life to save pastor from drowning,� By Simon Khoo and Isabelle Lai (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F1%2F22%2Fnation%2F7851571&sec=nation)]

When Hoh Kun Fatt woke up on the morning of Jan 19th, I doubt that he knew that it was going to be the day that he was going to die. Indeed it doesn�t seem to make any sense that the Lord would let Hoh die when he had his life ahead of him. In the same report, Hoh�s sister was quoted as saying:

[Hoh�s sister, Mei Kin, 30, held back tears as she recounted how her deceased brother changed for the better after joining the church. �It�s heartbreaking to see him gone, especially just when he got his life back on track. We are so proud of him,� she said.]

God knows when we come into this world and when we will leave.

[Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll. (Psalm 139:16 NET)]

But the Almighty doesn�t usually give out that information. Or His reasons. Instead He exhorts us to live wisely.

[So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely. (Psalm 90:12 NET)]

We may not know when or how we will die. But we can choose how to live. We can choose to live wisely. That may mean a life of faithful service. Or a moment of sacrificial bravery. I did not know Hoh Kun Fatt. Still, the circumstances of his death moved me deeply. In a moment of crisis he showed that Christ dwelt in him. I knew Raja Segran. This is a personal loss and I will miss him. There is suddenly this vacuum in my life. I am profoundly grateful to have come to know him. His life inspires me.

As I start a new year, the 56th year of my life, I am grateful for the lesson that comes from these two deaths. We may not know how and when we will die. But we can choose how we will live. God, help me to live this year wisely.

==================================
Do you think the ministry of Gracework commentaries is important? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
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 Seattle Men�s Group

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

January 30
Christ Church, Penang
Sunday Worship Service
9:00 am
531, Mk 16 Jalan Air Itam
11500 Penang
=============================
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)

===========================================
Grace@Work commentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 2/11. Commentary: Emigration Revisited

2011-01-19T10:25:59Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 2/11
January 17, 2011 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Emigration Revisited
By Soo-Inn Tan

Son Andrew has just finished the first semester of his undergraduate studies in Canada. He reports meeting Canadians, and Malaysians now residing in Canada, who tell him that Malaysia is a failing state with no hope for the future. Essentially he is encouraged to emigrate from Malaysia to countries which promise a better life. It seems that in a global world, where there is so much cross border movement, the emigration topic will continue to be hotly debated. This really struck home recently when a friend surrendered his Malaysian citizenship to become a Singaporean. Some will see this as a betrayal. Others will see this as the most logical thing to do. There was a time when I would have seen this as a betrayal. But no longer.

My thinking has become less Malaysia centric. Indeed I am wary of unbridled nationalistic jingoism. Our lives shouldn�t be Malaysia centric. Or Singapore centric. Instead our lives should be Christ centric. We are asked to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). All of us need to ask what that means in relation to where we make our home. We need to remember that Abraham, father of our faith, gave flesh to his faith and obedience, by emigrating from Haran to Canaan.

[The LORD had said to Abram, �Go from your country, your people and your father�s household to the land I will show you.
�I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.�
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him;
(Genesis 12: 1-4a NIV)]

For many people in the world, emigration is not an option. They cannot emigrate even if they wanted to for any number of reasons. Usually they are too poor to do so. Many others are forced to leave their countries of origin to escape war, famine, crushing poverty, etc. If you are in a position to choose whether to go or to stay already puts you in a very privileged position. All the more we should be conscious of the fact that we are stewards of our lives and not owners. If we understand this then we know the first question we need to grapple with is not whether we should go or we should stay. The first question we need to ask is: �Lord what would you have me do?�

This past weekend we were back in Kuala Lumpur. Among the many friends we met were a medical specialist, a pastor, an economist and a speech therapist. They had all done graduate studies abroad and were highly accomplished in their fields. These are folks who could emigrate to any number of more comfortable countries. Yet here they were back in Malaysia contributing to nation building in their respective fields. These were not folks who came across as heroes. They had no illusions about the difficulties facing them in Malaysia. But they were back because of one reason --- they believed that this is what the Lord wanted them to do. They were not Malaysia centric. They were Christ centric.

I also met up with an old friend, a leader of the Asia-Pacific region of a major missionary movement. He shared that the leaders of the Malaysian branch of his movement joked about starting a Malaysian chapter in Melbourne. Many of their members, including some of their top leaders, had emigrated there. I know that my friend would agree that many Western countries are highly secular and had become mission fields in their own right. But it�s one thing to go because the Lord tells us to. It is another to go because we think the grass is greener in another country.

And so I told son Andrew that running away because a situation is tough is not a mature ethic. And that it is always easier to curse the darkness than to light a candle. Or in the words of the apostle Paul, �Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21 NIV)� Above all we encouraged him to discern what the Lord would have him do. Bernice and I are not as concerned as to where our boys end up. But we do want them to live lives of faith and obedience.

Jesus came to give us abundant life (John 10:10). We do not experience this abundance by playing it safe. We experience it by trusting and obeying God. In other words the safest and most joyful place to be is in the centre of God�s will. For some of us that means going. And for others it means staying.

(NB. I am now based in Singapore.)

=================================
Do you think the ministry of Gracework commentaries is important? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
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 Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ. (http://www.sccc.sg)

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

Ministering this weekend
January 23
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Worship Service
"A Light Has Dawned" (Mt. 4:12-25)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552
===============================

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)

===========================================
Grace@Work commentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 1/11. Commentary: The Primacy of Listening

2011-01-10T14:00:29Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 1/11
January 10, 2011 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: The Primacy of Listening
By Soo-Inn Tan

Recently someone asked me if I was going to be less busy this year. I smiled, not sure how I should answer. Where our ministry, Graceworks, is concerned, we should be more focused this year. But the year has begun with Bernice and I doing a lot of listening. It's just the first week of 2011 and we are walking with three people in serious depression, two people contemplating divorce, at least four fighting cancer, and a number with serious family problems. Oh yes, and a pastor on the verge of burnout. And this is just the first week. Is this any indication of how the year will be like? If it is we have to carve out more time to sit at the feet of Jesus, to find refreshment, wisdom, and direction as to what He expects of us (Luke 10:38-42).

Let me make it utterly clear, especially since many of our friends are reading this, that we love our friends deeply and consider it a privilege to be allowed to walk with them. We are very clear that as we walk with them, we are blessed and transformed as well. It's just that sometimes we wonder why there are so few involved in the ministry of spiritual friendship. If there were more maybe more can be helped and we can spread the work around. (I guess I will be part answer to his query since I will be teaching a course on Spiritual Direction and Mentoring in Singapore Bible College.)

You may also be wondering if all we do is listen. All the folks I mentioned are facing serious problems. Surely we can do more than just listen. Well, duh, of course we offer whatever help we can. For example we encouraged one of the folks facing clinical depression to see a compassionate Christian psychiatrist that we know. He has and is on the road to recovery. But yes it is true that a lot of our ministry to our friends in pain consist of listening to them. Why? For two reasons at least. One, we have learnt long ago that there is just so much we can do to fix people's problems. The Lord has taught us a long time ago that we are not rescuing messiahs. We are often overwhelmed by the magnitude of our friends� problems and we do what we should --- we pray and refer them to the Lord (Mark 2:1-12). The second reason why we do a lot of listening is the fact that we understand the power of listening. I like the way Tomas R. Hawkins writes about the power of listening:

[Listening and being listened to are basic means of feeling understood and accepted. To listen is to validate, acknowledge, and appreciate another person. People grow through this giving and returning of attention and recognition. Listening and being listened to are the fundamental ways we span the spaces that divide us. The disappointment we feel when we have not been heard reflects how much listening serves as a foundation for our sense of selfhood. Listening is so central to our lives that it often escapes notice. It appears in so many guises that we frequently overlook its importance. Being listened to is how we discover ourselves as acceptable and valuable. (Thomas R. Hawkins, Cultivating Christian Community, Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources, 2001, 36.)]

I understand what Hawkins is saying. In my darkest moments I was most frustrated with friends who quickly �diagnosed� my problems and began to give me solutions. I was most blessed by those who really listened. The primacy of listening is a biblical principle. The apostle James has this to say:

[My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry . . . (James 1:19 NIV)]

In Life Together, his classic book on Christian community, Dietrich Bonheoffer says that listening is the first service we owe one another in the Christian community:

[The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him. Christians, especially ministers, so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking.
Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking where they should be listening. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1954, 113.)]

I am amazed that Bonhoeffer wrote this in 1938. Some things never change.

And so we begin the New Year doing a lot of listening. I sometimes wish I had more time to write. There are a few projects planned that will really help to move forward, Graceworks� ministry of promoting spiritual friendship. As I complained to my dear wife about my frustrations, she reminded me that we are in the ministry of relationships. Therefore the relationships in our life are key. I guess it will be kind of silly to be so busy writing a book on spiritual friendship that we have no time for our friends.

Still, the magnitude of the things that some of our friends are facing are heart breaking and overwhelming. There are some things only God can do. But we can listen.

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

Do you think the ministry of Gracework commentaries is important? Would you consider helping to sponsor our weekly commentaries?
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 Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ. (http://www.sccc.sg)

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

Ministering this weekend

January 15
Antioch Network Connection
Saturday Worship Service
5:00 pm
Centrepoint, Jalan Leboh Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

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

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Or
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===========================================
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 52/10. Commentary: Should Have Died in �73

2010-12-31T16:15:19Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 52/10
December 31, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Should Have Died in �73
By Soo-Inn Tan

I should have died in 1973. I was riding my motorbike to school for games, taking the High Court/St Georges Church (Penang) corner when suddenly my bike skidded and I fell. There must have been oil on the road. If a car or lorry had been following close behind, the vehicle would have run over me. Instead I got up, winded, bruised and shaken, and with a lot of skin missing from my right shin, but alive. There were even compensations. When I reached school, my school mates were concerned, especially the ladies. One of them, the freshie queen if I recall correctly, took me to the nearby convent (her alma mater) where a nun did a good Good Samaritan. No she didn�t dress my wounds with wine and oil. It was more Dettol (ouch) and Flavine. But I lived.

Well I could have died in 1972. I was tinkering around with an amplifier with a friend (those were the days of vinyl records) and I almost touched a live wire. My friend warned me just in time. My fingers were close enough to get a spark from the wire. But I survived. And these are just the near death experiences I am aware of. When I get to view the movie of my life in the new heavens and the new earth I will probably get to see many other instances when angels kept me from dying. Maybe we are immortal until our work on earth is done (George Whitefield).

One of the movies I sometimes show my discipleship groups is The Dead Poets Society. Here is a key exchange early in the movie:

KEATING
Thank you for playing anyway. Because we
are food for worms lads. Because, believe
it or not, each and every one of us in
this room is one day going to stop
breathing, turn cold, and die.

Keating turns towards the trophy cases, filled with trophies, footballs,
and team pictures.

KEATING
Now I would like you to step forward over
here and peruse some of the faces from
the past. You've walked past them many
times. I don't think you've really looked
at them.

The students slowly gather round the cases and Keating moves behind them.

KEATING
They're not that different from you, are
they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones,
just like you. Invincible, just like you
feel. The world is their oyster. They
believe they're destined for great things,
just like many of you. Their eyes are full
of hope, just like you. Did they wait until
it was too late to make from their lives
even one iota of what they were capable?
Because you see gentlemen, these boys are
now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen
real close, you can hear them whisper their
legacy to you. Go on, lean in.

The boys lean in and Keating hovers over Cameron's shoulder.

KEATING
(whispering in a gruff voice)
Carpe.

Cameron looks over his shoulder with an aggravated expression on his face.

KEATING
Hear it?
(whispering again)
Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys,
make your lives extraordinary.

The boys stare at the faces in the cabinet in silence.

I like the movie but I don't believe that this life is all there is. There is another time and place beyond this life for those who are in Christ. In many ways this life is preparation and testing for the life yet to come. But the call to embrace life and to live it to the full is welcome and biblical. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:15-17:

[Therefore be very careful how you live � not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord's will is. (NET)]

And in Psalm 90, Moses had this to say:

[. . . the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.
The days of our lives add up to seventy years,
or eighty, if one is especially strong.
But even one's best years are marred by trouble and oppression.
Yes, they pass quickly and we fly away.
Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?
Your raging fury causes people to fear you.
So teach us to consider our mortality,
so that we might live wisely. (Psalm 90:9b � 12 NET)]

We are not to live our lives in fear, obsessed by our mortality but we are to live our lives wisely, �taking advantage of every opportunity.� Paul tells us that we are to do so because we live in a fallen evil world.

[Although (believers) live in the midst of these evil days as they await their final redemption, they are neither to avoid them nor to fear them. Rather, they are to live wisely, taking advantage of every opportunity in this fallen world to conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. (Peter O�Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999, 383.)]

As we come to the end of another year, we hear afresh the Spirit whispering to us, no, not carpe diem (seize the day), but �live wisely.� And we hear the Lord calling us, no, not to live extraordinary lives, but to live lives that are pleasing to Him, committed to loving God and neighbour at His leading. For most of us, this will not mean that we are called to do more things, but to pause and listen afresh for His directions so that we do the right things. Therefore, most of us should end the year taking our place next to Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42) --- nurtured by His love, and listening to His Word and His words for us.

Will we still be in this world by the end of 2011? Or will we be with Jesus? Doesn't matter. We are not food for worms. We are much more than that. But we are called to be good stewards of the time entrusted to us.

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

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
(J. R.R. Tolkien)

Here's wishing all our friends a very blessed 2011!

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

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

Ministering this weekend

Saturday 1 Jan 2011
Dental Prayer Fellowship
9.30 am
12 Fernhill Cresent
S 259160

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 51/10. Commentary: On the Road with Joseph and Mary

2010-12-24T22:16:48Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 51/10
December 24, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: On the Road with Joseph and Mary
By Soo-Inn Tan

If you had met Joseph and Mary on the road to Bethlehem on that fateful evening two thousand years ago, you would not have guessed that they were anything special. They had no haloes shining around their heads, no sticker on the donkey (if they had one) reading "Parents of Messiah," or Mary wearing a T shirt that read "Messiah inside." They were just an ordinary couple, one of many having to travel back to their home-towns to register, in compliance with the latest government policy --- same old, same old. They were just another smelly, grimy couple making a journey that couldn't have come at a worst time. Mary was well along in her pregnancy. I can just imagine the baby kicking a lot, and Mary saying: "Sorry Joseph, I have to go again," all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a ninety mile journey. A tough journey.

[In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:1-7 NIV)]

But the child Mary was carrying was special. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, the Messiah had indeed come. But apart from Joseph and Mary, no one knew the significance of the baby, that with His coming, God had entered human history in a special way, that He would make all things right again. All we saw was a couple, the woman heavy with child, struggling on the road to Bethlehem. Once again the Lord does marvellous things and nobody is the wiser. In a time when for most people, God was apparently absent and life was harsh, God was busily at work, ensuring that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem in fulfilment of prophecy (Micah 5:1-2), setting into motion His plan to save the world. I like the way Darrell L. Bock puts it:

[Luke portrays Augustus as the unknowing agent of God, whose decree leads to the fulfillment of the promised rise of a special ruler from Bethlehem (Mic. 5:1-2 ...) . . .
In addition to the historical connection, the mention of the census explains how a couple from Nazareth gave birth to a child in Bethlehem. The accidental events of history have become acts of destiny. Little actions have great significance, for the ruler was to come out of Bethlehem and only a governmental decree puts the parents in the right place. (Darrell L. Bock, Luke, Volume 1, 1:1 - 9:50, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1994, 203)]

How do you feel as we count down 2010? Tired? Confused? Worse? Feeling that you are buffeted by forces way beyond your control? How has the year been? Not sure what God was up to? The soundtrack of your life bereft of rhyme or reason? Ditto Joseph and Mary two thousand years ago. And see how things turned out. As we see Joseph and Mary trudging along, we remember, again, that God is at work. Indeed God is always at work. Jesus says as much in John 5:17 when He tells us that His Father is always working. But here's the thing --- He is not obliged to show you what He is up to. He calls us to trust Him.

I am typing this column on Christmas eve, no time for reflection, at least not yet. It has been a demanding year and I feel it. Indeed the year ends with fresh challenges. Feeling tired. But tonight I look at Joseph and Mary wearily making their way to Bethlehem and I remember what awaits at the end of that journey. And I smile. "The accidental events of history have become acts of destiny. Little actions have great significance . . ." God is at work. I smile.

Blessed Christmas my friends!!

-----------------------------------------------------

Ministering this weekend

December 26
Kampong Kapor Methodist Church
Sunday Services
"Lessons for a Time of Change"
Joshua 1
8:00 am
9:30 am
1 Kampong Kapor Road
Singapore 208673

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

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 50/10. Commentary: A Tough Christmas

2010-12-17T18:36:47Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 50/10
December 17, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: A Tough Christmas
By Soo-Inn Tan

This is going to be a tough Christmas for some of my friends. These are friends that lost their spouses sometime this year. This will be the first Christmas without their spouses. It will be rough.

[ . . . almost all survivors experience anniversary reactions. The first Christmas, Easter, birthday, or wedding anniversary after the loss can be difficult emotionally, as can the anniversaries of the death . . . Sometimes when people are not free to mourn immediately after the death, a full grief reaction will be triggered by a later anniversary or other reminder of the loss. (Gary R. Collins, Christian Counseling, 3rd Edition, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007, 474.)]

I remembered the first time I drove to Klang after the death of Hee Ling my first wife (1993). I was living in Petaling Jaya then. I used the Federal Highway. When I approached the first toll gate I burst into tears. It hit me that I would never be driving to Klang with Hee Ling ever again. There is something about these "first time without the loved one who died" experiences that really brings home the finally of death and the pain of loss.

Christmas is particularly bad because the many exhortations to rejoice, from the church and from the world (shopping malls), only serve to underline one's pain. Indeed a phenomena called Christmas depression has long been documented.

[This (Christmas holidays) is a period of frenetic activity, a time when people are trying to juggle work, an increase in social obligations, shopping, decorating, wrapping, entertaining and staying on budget. All this leads to a rise in both physical and emotional stress.

This is also a time of reflection, as the year nears its end. A time when others look back and see the losses they incurred --- loss of a loved one through death, divorce or separation, loss of a job, or even loss of familiar social environment (as in having moved away from home). ("Christmas Holiday Depression," Medical News Today, 18 Dec 2005.)]

Yet maybe Christmas should best be viewed through tears. Recently I had the privilege to preach from this passage from the gospel of Mark:

[While he (Jesus) was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, �Your daughter is dead. There's no use troubling the Teacher now.�
But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, �Don't be afraid. Just have faith.�

Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn't let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, �Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn't dead; she's only asleep.�

The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl's father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand, he said to her, �Talitha koum,� which means �Little girl, get up!� And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5: 35-43 NLT.)]

There are few things as tragic as the death of a child. As a parent I can guess what Jairus must have felt when he was told his daughter had already died. I can imagine the scenes of wailing and weeping. There is something universal about the grief of loss. Death is the enemy that cannot be defeated. But what is also clear from this account is Jesus' absolute authority over death. We see it in His raising of Jairus daughter. We see it in His raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44). And of course we see it in His own death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-28).

If the calls for joy at Christmas only seem to heighten the pain of our grief, we remember that the Christ of Christmas is the One who has conquered death on our behalf and on behalf of all those who are His. For some of us, the wounds of grief are still raw. But every Christmas is one Christmas less till that Day when Christ comes again, and we will be "overwhelmed and totally amazed." In the meantime the Christ of Christmas calls us to hold on. He tells us "Don't be afraid. Just have faith."

Are you a friend of someone who has lost a loved one recently? Don't stay away because you are afraid you don't know what to do. Don't rush your friend to premature emotional closure. Don't trivialise their loss by telling them that everything is ok. It is not. It will be. But not yet. "Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5b NLT)" The morning will come. But first the night. Just be with your friend. You don't have to say anything. Your very presence will be a tangible reminder of Jesus, and the morning. I can't think of a more meaningful way to celebrate Christmas.

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

Ministering this weekend

December 19
Fools and Wise Men
Matthew 2:1-12
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Worship Service
10:00 - 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 49/10. How Many More Christmases?

2010-12-10T17:14:37Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 49/10
December 10, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: How Many More Christmases?
By Bernice Lee

Earlier this week I had lunch with a dear friend, one of the bravest ladies I know. A breast cancer survivor, she discovered last year that the cancer had snuck up on her again. I�m sure she had her share of long and hard discussions with her Maker following that discovery. While I was not privy to those deeply private conversations, I do know for a fact that she would come out of her prayer closet invigorated and more determined than ever to lick the disease.

One full cycle of chemotherapy later, she learnt that the drugs weren�t achieving the desired level of cancer cell deaths. This was news she didn�t need. Chemotherapy is financially draining even under the best of circumstances. She had been blessed to have been picked for a drug trial that first round. How would she be able to afford newer and stronger drugs with her limited resources? God blessed her with yet another chance to go on a new drug trial. And so we rejoiced! Then, at one of her regular progress check-ups, she was told that the cancer count had gone down. We rejoiced even more!

Oh, her joy has been so infectious. Looking at her, with her full head of hair, twinkling eyes and ever-ready smile, you would not know that she was fighting for her life, or that her vision has been severely compromised by the chemotherapy. She is so full of life and joy because her roots of hope go deep. In fact, she�s planning a Christmas dinner for her children, their friends, and those of her nephews and nieces who are currently in Singapore. The only poignant moment in our conversation came when she wistfully said that she so much wanted to do this because she didn�t know how many more Christmases she would have.

Do we know how many more Christmases each of us will have? Some of us, like my friend, are blessed with timely reminders of the fact that this life is a temporary one. And so she has launched herself into this adventure of living life to the fullest because she knows where her hope and her final destination will be. She epitomized for me the �passionate patience� that Luci Shaw wrote about in her book The Crime of Living Cautiously (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005).

[I particularly like the oxymoron implied in �passionate patience,� a phrase Eugene Peterson uses several times in The Message. I have to ask myself, Am I passionate in my patience as I wait for God to act for me or through me? To direct me? To speak to me? Or do I lose the spark in the waiting? (The Crime of Living Cautiously, 37.)]

Many of us are so caught up in the daily struggles of our existence that we lose sight of Life itself. I don�t make light of all that you and I need to do in order to maintain a roof over our heads, feed our families and ensure that our children have a good educational head start. But, like my friend and Luci Shaw, I have begun to see that there is more to life than the daily grind. Perspective is everything, isn�t it? Jesus could have seen, at every turn, the multi-headed beast called �sinfulness� and been totally defeated by despair. And He almost was at the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:41, 42). But His obedience to the Father and ownership of His mission gave Him the courage to go on. If we can see a bigger overarching story to our lives, it gives everything we do and everything that happens, a different perspective. Henri Nouwen put it so well when he said:

[If I were able to trust more, to open myself more easily to be more vulnerable, then obedience would not be so hard. I would be able to say� �If I am still asked to do something I do not like to do, perhaps I must be open to the idea of God�s preparing me for something greater and more important than anything I can imagine.� (The Genesee Diary, New York, NY: Doubleday, 1981, 119.)]

There is an ultimate purpose to all the �madness� and so we can take to the white waters of life in our puny rafts and whoop with joy as we crest the next wave or rapid. And even if the raft should occasionally overturn, we�ll have the faith ballast to right it again and continue the ride, soaking wet yet filled with joy and a sense of adventure.

Both Soo Inn and I lost our first spouses to cancer, and you would think that we�d know better than to open ourselves up to the very real possibility of similar loss and pain. But here we are, married to each (for better or for worse), and in for the ride of our lives with a God who holds our future firmly in His loving hands and guides us surely over the rocks and swirling waters. It hasn�t always been easy and we have to constantly remind ourselves not to swing from a bland acceptance of life�s ills to an adrenalin-driven compulsion to fill each waking moment with activity. It comes back to the �passionate patience�. Passionate? Hmmm, yes. Patience? Well, that�ll take another eCommentary to unpack! (*grin*)

Why am I talking about death and dying when it is Christmas that we�re anticipating? Well, the joy only makes sense when we remember that Jesus came in order to die for our sins. And the death only makes sense when we remember that He rose again. That�s why Luci Shaw says we can go on this �Adventure of resurrection, a new life given into God�s hands.� (The Crime of Living Cautiously, 24.)

I don�t know how many more Christmases I�ll see, but I do know I want to make this one count. And the next one, and the one after that�

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

December 12
Christian Life Gospel Center
Sunday Morning Worship
10:30 am - 12:00 noon
3rd Fl, Wisma Kemajuan
2, Jalan 19/1B
46300 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 48/10. Commentary: Through Deed and Word

2010-12-04T12:55:13Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 48/10
December 3, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Through Deed and Word
By Soo-Inn Tan

Our church care group is having a Christmas outreach event tonight --- with a difference. In previous similar events, our primary concern would be on how to "save the lost" --- how to get people to make commitments to Jesus. This is still our concern because we love our friends and family and believe that they will experience true life when they choose to follow Jesus. However, we have to come to realise, or realise again for some of us, that our first job is to demonstrate something of the reality of the character of the Jesus that we want them to follow. We want our friends to also experience a foretaste of the Kingdom.

We have just come back from our church camp. The speaker was Rev Wayne Ibara, pastor of Makiki Christian Church, Honolulu. (I tried to hum the opening bars to the intro of the Hawaii Five-0 TV series near him but he didn't seem to notice.) With much humility and patience he outlined his church's journey towards being a missional church. One of the things he mentioned was that a missional church is one that does not exist for her own sake but understands that she is meant to be "sign, foretaste, and instrument of the kingdom of God." Here, Pastor Wayne was quoting from the work of missiologist Leslie Newbigin who among other things, taught about the church being the sent community that continues the work of Jesus (John 20:21) and Jesus came both demonstrating and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

Jesus came preaching about the Kingdom, the reign of God, and not about the church. Mark 1:14-15 is an early summary of Jesus' message:
"After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!" (HCSB)] The Good News was that God's providential reign was coming and had drawn near in the person of Jesus.

[Mark frames his introductory summary of Jesus' proclamation in 1:14-15 according to characteristic OT schema that presents the revelation of God in terms of divine blessings and human obligations. The gracious activity of God evokes and demands an appropriate response from humanity (e.g., Exodus 19-20; Deut 29:2-8;9-15). Likewise, the gospel, as it is proclaimed by and present in Jesus, can remarkably be summarized in a single indicative: the divine blessing is present in "the kingdom of God," and the human obligation is contained in two simple imperatives, "repent" and "believe." (James R. Edwards, The Gospel According To Mark, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002, 47-48.)]

The gospels presents Jesus functioning with this schema of "divine blessings and human obligations." He goes about demonstrating the nature of the Kingdom. He heals the sick, feeds the hungry, delivers those oppressed by evil spirits, reaches out to the marginalised, and stands up for truth against the powers of the day when needed. As He demonstrates the reality of the Kingdom, He also invites people to come under the saving reign of the King of this Kingdom. Therefore there is an inextricable link between the acts of Jesus and the words of Jesus. Sent to continue His work, the church too needs to proclaim the gospel through word and deed. As Newbigin points out, it is often some "kingdom" deed that leads the way to a discussion of the gospel. Something happens and people are intrigued. They then ask the question for which the gospel is the answer.

[. . . almost all the great Christian preaching in Acts are made in response to a question. Something has happened which makes people aware of a new reality, and therefore the question arises: what is this new reality? The communication of the gospel is the answering of that question. (Leslie Newbigin, The Gospel In A Pluralist Society, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989, 132.)]

Therefore, empowered by the Spirit, the church must show by life and deed this new reality. As Newbigin argues, the question for which the gospel is the answer, "is only asked if there is some evidence that the new reality is present" (The Gospel In A Pluralist Society, 133).

Tim Keller puts it this way:

[Biblically, an experience of saving grace through evangelism leads to radical sharing of wealth and helping the needy. And when the world sees this sharing, that there is �no needy among them,� (Acts 4:34) it leads to more powerful evangelistic witness (Acts 4:33). Thus doing justice and preaching grace go hand in hand . . . (Tim Keller, What is God's Global Mission, http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/details/10282 .)]

So the church is a sign of the Kingdom. By who we are, by what we preach, and by what we do, we point to the saving reign of God. And the church is the instrument of the Kingdom. We are sent out by Jesus as the Father sent Him, to demonstrate and to share about the Kingdom. And yes we are also to provide a foretaste of the Kingdom. When non-believers interact with believers they should experience something of the character of a God who loves tenderly and compassionately, but who is also completely committed to truth and holiness.

A few days ago I received a query from someone who wanted to know what were the laws governing evangelism in Malaysia. I said that there were laws in place that punished anyone who tried to get Muslims to change their faith but no such laws exist for sharing the gospel with non-Muslims. But more recently I have been thinking --- instead of reducing the discussion to how we can get people of other faiths to "sign on the dotted line," we should be thinking first about how we can reveal something of the new reality of the Kingdom by our love and by our commitment to truth. Our lives as followers of Jesus should be so different that people of other faiths become curious, and ask the question for which Christ is the answer. But if the quality of our lives does not reveal something of the reality of God, our words will ring hollow.

So I pray that we will have a good time at our Christmas outreach tonight. I pray that it will be a true celebration of the coming of Christ. I pray for a deep and genuine live for our guests. I pray that our guests will notice something so different in us that it will lead to good solid conversations about Jesus. And I pray that the conversations will lead some to repent and to believe.

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

Correction

The last sentence in the fourth paragraph of last week's commentary, Depression, should read "The grace of God, much prayer, the love of the friends who stuck by me, and the competent professional care of a good psychiatrist." and not "The grace of God, much prayer, the love of the friends who suck by me, and the competent professional care of a good psychiatrist." I am sure Freudians will have their own take on this.

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 47/10. Commentary: Depression

2010-11-30T17:02:48Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 47/10
November 26, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Depression
By Soo-Inn Tan

I remember the night my clinical depression overtook me. It was an evening in 1998. I had the privilege of preaching at a friend's ordination service. Later that evening I was to join a group of young adults in my church for an evangelistic camp. After the ordination service I found myself struggling to do the most basic things --- going to my car, driving home, throwing stuff for the camp into a bag, giving a friend a ride to the camp --- I saw myself moving in slow motion, having to push myself to do everything. I didn't realise it then but "general slowing down of all motor tasks" is one of the symptoms of depression (Rod J.K. Wilson, How Do I Help a Hurting Friend, Grand Rapids, MI: BakerBooks, 2006, 77).

The evangelistic camp was a disaster for me. I was supposed to mingle with the folks, building bridges with members and their guests, but I couldn't bear to be with anyone. All who know me will know this is so unlike me. I enjoy getting to know people and having good conversations with all sorts of people. Instead I hid in my room. The only activity that gave me relief was taking a hot shower. I found myself in the shower for long periods of time. I couldn't explain it and I still can't but the hot water pouring on my body gave me tangible relief from my emotional pain.

I subsequently saw a psychiatrist who used to attend my church services. He said that he wasn't surprised at all that I was experiencing clinical depression. He reminded me that I had gone through a number of major life blows --- the death of my first wife, the breakdown of my second marriage, the loss of much of my public ministry because of my marital difficulties, the challenge of being a single parent to my two boys --- it had all added up. He said that with counselling and medication I should be out of the worse of the depression in two to four months. But there was to be no quick fix. Antidepressants work by slowly fine tuning our brain chemistry. It doesn't act on the symptoms straight away.

The psychiatrist was right. I did get over the worse of my depression in about three months. The road to getting all my life energies back would take much longer. But those were some of the toughest months of my life. My sleep pattern was disturbed. I would go to bed at 11p.m. and get up at 1a.m. and could not sleep any more no matter how much I wanted to. I spent most of the time lying down on my sofa watching television but I couldn't even enjoy the World Cup games that were gong on. (I enjoy watching football.) I found out that another symptom of depression is the inability to enjoy the things you normally enjoy. At that time I was also doing most of the marketing and grocery shopping for the family. Every trip was like climbing Mount Everest. I don't know how I survived those black months. But I do. The grace of God, much prayer, the love of the friends who suck by me, and the competent professional care of a good psychiatrist.

I praise God that He has healed me substantially. It has been more than ten years now since that fateful evening when I first entered that dark valley. I am grateful for my healing. And I am grateful that my sojourn through that dark valley gives me some help in walking with those who make that same journey. In a day and age when we know so much more about depression, I am surprised that many of the church communities that I know still know little of depression and how to help those who have been afflicted. I commended a fellowship group that recently asked me to talk about the topic. But the triumphalistic, feel good culture of many church communities mean that few church groups take depression seriously.

Here are some clues that we may be dealing with depression.

[ . . . a significant number of the (following) eight symptoms for an extended period of time would suggest that a competent professional should investigate for depression.

1. Significant change in appetite, sexual drive, and weight.

2. Significant change in sleep pattern.

3. Loss of energy and excessive fatigue.

4. Feelings of worthlessness, self-reproach, and excessive guilt.

5. Difficulty concentrating, remembering, and making decisions.

6. Loss of motivation and enjoyment of regular tasks.

7. General slowing down of all motor tasks.

8. Suicidal tendencies

(Wilson, How Do I Help a Hurting Friend, 77.)]

How do we help people with depression? 1 Kings 19 is an excellent study of how God the great physician, helped Elijah through his depression. Note how God accepted Elijah in all his negativism and allowed him to sleep and eat before working with him psychologically and spiritually. Sometimes the worst thing we can do is tell someone in depression to pray more or to have more faith. This only makes the person feel guilty, believing that he or she is in depression because of some spiritual deficiency, driving that person deeper into his or her dark hole.

Every church should receive some basic teaching on the comprehensive causes of expression, how to prevent it, how to walk with people going through it, and when we should involve those professionally trained to help. We live in a broken world and like all of creation we await the final renewal (Romans 8:18-25). In the meantime we know that God walks with us even in our darkest moments. And He calls us to walk with each other.

Years later I found out that one person became a follower of Christ in that disastrous evangelistic camp when my clinical depression first overwhelmed me. God was there.

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 46/10. Commentary: Retired, Extremely Dangerous.

2010-11-20T13:30:51Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 46/10
November 19, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Retired, Extremely Dangerous
By Soo-Inn Tan

The wisest quote from the movie RED (2010) cannot be found in any list of quotable quotes from the movie. It comes from the scene where Frank Moses, the Bruce Willis character, visits his mentor, Joe Matheson, the Morgan Freeman character, who is living in an old folks home. Joe points out that he is a veteran of Vietnam and Afghanistan, but he was ambushed by one thing. There was one thing he didn't see coming. Growing old. The rest of the movie is one incredible fun ride. Should be seen by everyone, especially those above the age of fifty. The sight of Helen Mirren firing a 50 calibre machine gun alone should give anyone fresh zest for life. But the movie is no serious treatment of the topic of aging.

Most of us past midlife can identity with the comment that one doesn't really feel that one is growing old. After all, inside our skin is the same chap that has always been there. Here is Henri Nouwen on turning sixty:

[. . . people between the ages of one and thirty are considered young; those between thirty and sixty are considered middle-aged; and those past their sixtieth birthday are considered old. But when you are suddenly sixty, you don't feel old. At least I didn't. Indeed, I somehow keep forgetting that I have become old and that young people regard me as an old man. (Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Formation, New York, NY: Harper One, 2010, 112.)]

But the transition to the later years of life is real and one that we should prepare for. In his book Courage & Calling, Gordon T. Smith talks about this transition from mid-adulthood to the senior years.

[Though many seniors can expect to have healthy, active lives for twenty years or longer after the age of sixty-five . . . there is within adult development, a necessary transition from our mid-adult years to our senior years. (Gordon T. Smith, Courage & Calling, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999, 69.)]

Smith goes on to point out

[This transition . . . is a necessary one, for we are older and we do not have the same physical capacities. Our role in the church and the world does change. The most obvious external feature of this transition is that we let go of formal structures of power and influence --- the roles, the titles, the offices and the occupations --- that gave expression to our vocation . . . (Smith, 69.)]

Smith goes on to say that the transition to our senior years does not mean that our contribution to life gets any less, just different. Where in the past, we make our vocational contribution through "formal structures of power and influence," in our senior years we make our vocational contribution through "giving wisdom and giving blessing (Smith, 70)." But Smith also understands that this transition can be scary.

[All of our lives we hold platforms or titles or positions or roles that require people to listen to us; and we assume that we will be heard or recognized. But for seniors now these structures are gone. The platforms are removed. And we are only heard if we are wise --- if we actually have something to say that is helpful, insightful and illuminating. This is frightening. (Smith, 70.)]

I am sure we all know of leaders who are still in formal positions of power in their later years and are still functioning effectively. Smith is aware of this too.

[ . . . I am not saying that someone who has turned sixty-five should no longer hold office. Not for a moment . . . But I am saying that if we continue in roles of formal position or power, we hold these roles differently and we function differently. (Smith, 74)]

In other words, we need to embrace the transition from mid-adulthood to our senior years even if we are still in office.

I pray that when my time comes I will know how to make this transition. I am only five years away from sixty. And I have seen too many leaders who refuse to make this transition, clinging on to positions and platforms when they should have made way for other leaders a long time ago. I have seen organizations suffer and friendships strained because a leader cannot let go of position when it is clearly time to do so. Sometimes I think it is more frightening to let go of the known than to embrace the unknown. I have never found transitions easy.

But how does one prepare for the later years of life? I am not sure if there is any definitive answer. I suspect the answers revolve around the answers to two questions: "Who am I?" and "What have I been called to do?"

Who am I? The first question is the question of identity. For some time now I have realised that my core identity is "child of God."

[See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NIV)]

I may wear different hats in my life but I have a core identity that never changes no matter what age I am. I am a child of God, a God who lavishes His love on me. This will never change and is the true source of my identity and self-worth. And indeed the day I pass from this life is the day I graduate fully into that identity.

What have I been called to do? The second question is one of vocation. Like Smith, I believe that we all have a calling, "a vocation that is unique to each person, an individual's mission in the world (Smith, 10)," and that this personal life mission is part of who I am and will continue to be my expression of service in the world at whatever age.

[ . . .we need to distinguish between vocation and career. My career may come to an end when I retire. But my vocation comes from God; it remains. It is not something that I choose or that someone else can give me or take away from me. It comes from God; it reflects my fundamental identity. (Smith, 35)]

I believe my personal life mission is "to transform lives by teaching God's Word with passion, accuracy, and relevance." At fifty-five, sixty-five or eighty-five, I will be doing this in some way. I am deeply encouraged when I visit my professors from Regent, a number of whom have retired by now and some who are in their eighties. I am deeply encouraged by how they continue to give expression to their callings at their chapter of life. They are my models and mentors of how to follow Christ in our senior years.

I suspect that I will be the one most surprised when I am "suddenly sixty." Not sure how I will respond when that time comes. But I know that however I feel, I will cling on to the answers to the two basic questions. I will cling on to my calling. And I will embrace my Abba more closely.

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

Ministering this weekend

November 21
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Worship Service
Re-encountering God
Exodus 3: 1-12
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

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Another invitation to sponsor the Graceworks Commentaries

2010-11-16T14:34:49Z

Sponsoring the Graceworks commentaries

Faithful readers of our weekly commentaries may have noticed that recently, we have struggled to put out our weekly reflection. Life has been more hectic than usual! There was even once when the commentary was a week late. But we are almost back on track. Every week, Bernice or I will try to reflect on life in the light of Scripture, and shamelessly make that reflection available for others in the hope that it would help them in some way.

The weekly commentary is one of the ministries of Graceworks (www.graceworks.com.sg). Graceworks is committed to helping followers of Jesus Christ develop the spiritual friendships they need for their discipleship. We want to see believers follow Jesus and change the world --- in the company of spiritual friends. We carry out our ministry through publishing and training. We also run spiritual friendship groups.

Graceworks is a company and we are financially sustained through our work. One way you can support our work is to sponsor our weekly commentaries. As you consider your year end giving and as you plan for your ministry support for the new year, we hope you will consider supporting the work of Graceworks. We appreciate your partnership.

We are attaching a form to help you if you choose to sponsor the commentaries. It gives the support amount in Singapore dollars because we are based in Singapore. If you would like to know the equivalent amount in other currencies, do write to us.

Many thanks to those of you who have already helped to sponsor our work.

Blessings,
Soo Inn

M +65 91251331 l E sooinn@graceworks.com.sg l
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 45/10. Commentary: I am not the Messiah. Repeat.

2010-11-13T12:16:30Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 45/10
November 12, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: I am not the Messiah. Repeat.
By Soo-Inn Tan

I was having lunch with two friends earlier in the week. One of them shared about the struggles of an organization he was helping to lead. Somewhere through his sharing I blurted out "Can I get on the board of directors? Maybe I can help. Maybe I can support your agenda for change." I am sure my desire to help was genuine, but as I reflected on what I said, I thought, how arrogant I was. In offering to help, I assumed that I could help, that my help was needed, and perhaps worse of all, that God wanted me to get involved. Here was Soo Inn lapsing into his Messiah complex again.

Ironically the previous Sunday I had preached on Exodus 2:11-23. Moses intervened to rescue a Hebrew who was being beaten by an Egyptian and ended up killing the Egyptian (vv.11-15). Instead of this being the first blow in the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, it was an act that led to Moses fleeing Egypt in failure. Moses had responded to a need but he had acted unilaterally. He had not consulted the Lord as to what he should have done and when.

We can understand why Moses acted the way he did. After all he "was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action (Acts 7:22 NIV)." He was a very capable person. He had every right to be confident in his ability to make a difference. God had to humble him for forty years in the desert before Moses would move from self-confidence to God-confidence. When God called Moses subsequently, Moses' protested because he did not believe he could do the job (Exodus 3:11-4:17). Moses had been cured of his Messiah complex. That was when the Messiah could use him.

In the same lunch a brother shared that he was having a serous health problem. It was a reminder of his mortality. He was feeling down because there was so much more he wanted to do. His health was a reminder that he would not have the time to do all that he wanted. I went into my sage mode and shared that limitations could be a mercy. When we can no longer do all that we want to do, we are forced to go back to God and ask Him what precisely are the things we must do. Without the restrain of limitations we will try to do everything and there will always be many legitimate needs out there. In trying to do everything we fritter away our lives and may end up missing our life calling. We may do many things and end up not doing the one thing we are called to do (Philippians 3:13).

We shouldn't need a major health problem to be reminded of our mortality. Last week a dear friend passed away. He was 56. I will be 56 next year. Am I working on the things God wants me to work on? We live in a society that prizes productivity. Daily we are called to do more. But doing more does not mean we are doing the right things. As followers of Jesus, our lives are not need focused or productivity focused. They must be God focused. Daily we need to be quiet before the Lord and say with Samuel: �Speak, for your servant is listening (1 Samuel 3:10b NIV),� and await our instructions.

It also helps to listen with friends. I was with two other friends yesterday. This is an ongoing triad I am committed to. The three of us meet up once a month to share our lives and to help each other in our commitment to follow Christ. One of the things we do in the triad is we help each other with our vocational issues. The last time we met I had shared with them how I was (once again) pulled in different directions as to where I should be investing my time and energy. Yesterday they came back to me with wise questions and good suggestions that really helped me to understand what I should be doing at this chapter of my life. Thanks guys.

At 55 I no longer need to be convinced that I do not have all the time in the world to do all that I want nor do I have the energy to do all that I think I should do. But clearly I have not been completely healed of my Messiah complex. Maybe it is like alcoholism. One is never completely healed. One chooses to renounce this hubris one day at a time.

We can all learn from John the Baptist. He was utterly clear that he was not the Messiah (John 1:20). As John Stendahl reminds us:

[The messianic impulse, the assumed role of rescuer of the other, can be an egoism that diminishes and destroys . . .
In this context, it is salutary that we should remember Johns' pointing away from himself and to Jesus. We are not, any nor all of us, the Messiah. That position has already been filled. To let Jesus be our Christ, our anointed savior and rescuer, may still entail seeking to be engaged in his saving work and mission -- of course it does -- but it also commands us to humility, a letting go of our seducing desires either to rescue or to be rescued by others. We already have a Messiah, and he ain�t us. ("Messianic Complex," Christian Century, November 20- December 3, 2002, p. 17)]

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 44/10. Commentary: If this is Monday, I am a premillennialist

2010-11-06T11:56:56Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 44/10
November 5, 2010 Edition
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: If this is Monday, I am a premillennialist
By Soo-Inn Tan

I suspect this piece will make some people angry but here it is. Recently when we were having dinner with some friends, I was asked as to where I stood concerning the interpretation of the thousand years of Revelation 20: 4- 6:

[I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (NIV)]

Bible believing Christians are divided as to how the thousand years in these verses should be interpreted. Are they a literal thousand years when Jesus and some martyrs will be reigning on earth? Are the thousand years symbolic? Those in the know will know how much heat has been expended on these verses.

My answer is that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I am a premillennialist, and see the thousand years as a literal thousand years, with Jesus ruling on this earth before the final judgement. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I am a amillennialist and see the thousand years as symbolic representing the present age, with nothing more to happen before Jesus comes back for the final judgement and to usher in the new heavens and the new earth. On Sundays, I rest from this debate. I am not trying to be facetious, well, ok, maybe a little. I have wrestled with this issue for almost forty years and see the force of both the premillennial and the amillennial positions. I know that there are top notch godly biblical scholars who support both these positions. If I am forced to take a stand I will say I lean towards the premillennial position. But what I am utterly clear about is that Jesus will win in the end.

As I write this piece, I am disappointed that two by - elections in Malaysia were won by the ruling coalition. I am one of those hoping that Malaysia will move away from the politics of race and corruption. As I write this piece, a good friend is fighting cancer, and the family has been told, once again, to be prepared for the worst. As I write this piece I read of a suicide bomb attack in north west Pakistan killing forty-five and injuring a hundred people. As I write this piece I read of 80, 000 people fleeing a volcanic eruption in Indonesia, an eruption that has already taken more than a hundred and twenty lives. As I write this piece I read of three airmen working for the World Food Programme, who have been kidnapped in Darfur. Sometimes it is tiring to be on the side of the angels. How do we find the strength to carry on? By remembering that Jesus, and good, win in the end. To quote Bishop Desmond Tutu:

[The texture of our universe is one where there is no question at all but that good and laughter and justice will prevail. (Alex Perry, "The Laughing Bishop,"� TIME International Edition, October 11, 2010, 36.)]

It is this conviction that enabled Bishop Tutu and many others to walk the long journey that led to the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.

[On Sept. 25, 1977, 16 years before apartheid's end, Desmond Tutu stood before a crowd of 15,000 at the funeral of murdered black consciousness leader Steve Biko in King William's Town, South Africa, and declared that white rule was finished. "The powers of injustice, of oppression, of exploitation, have done their worst, and they have lost," thundered the then 45-year-old bishop of St .Mary and St. James, Lesotho. "They have lost because they are immoral and wrong, and our God . . . is a God of justice and liberation and goodness. Our cause . . . must triumph because it is moral and just and right."� (Perry, "The Laughing Bishop,"� 36.)]

Because we take God and His Word seriously we will continue to wrestle with the book of Revelation, to clarify our understanding of the book, especially of some of the more difficult passages. But we must never forget that Revelation is God's word to followers of Jesus who are suffering for the privilege of doing so. In the book of Revelation, God draws back the curtains of the heavens and of history, to let suffering saints know who is in control at all times, and who will win in the end.

So while we continue to wrestle with some aspects of Revelation Ch 20, we will not forget how the story ends:

[Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:1-5 NIV)]

In remembering how the story ends, we find the strength, and indeed the laughter, to press on. "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV)

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

Ministering this weekend

November 6
Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship Annual Dinner
"Spiritual Friendships in a Globalised World"
7:00 pm
Guild Hall
NUSS Guild House
9 Kent Ridge Drive
Singapore 119241

November 7
Evangel Christian Church
Recognizing God's Education
(Exodus 2: 11-25)
Sunday Worship Service
10:00 - 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

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GRACEWORKS MAIL 43/10. Commentary: Hate what is worng, love what is right!

2010-11-02T00:43:46Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 43/10
October 29, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Hate what is wrong, love what is right!
By Soo-Inn Tan

Would you pay RM42, 320 for a laptop that costs between RM5, 350 to RM6, 500 ?

[Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang not only paid the price but bought two units of the same brand � Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI, at a whopping price of RM84,640, said the Auditor-General�s Report. In addition, the college purchased 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500.( Yeng Ai Chun, �RM42,320 for a laptop,� TheStar Online, Thursday October 22, 2009 )]

The above was part of the findings in the Malaysian Auditor-General�s report, released recently. And while the finding should disturb us, it shouldn�t come as a surprise. Remember the set of four screwdrivers costing RM32.80 that were bought for RM224.94? That interesting bit of information was found in the Auditor-General�s report for the previous year. While we may find such snippets of information funny (my friends in Singapore are aghast at such reports), it means that every year, billions of the rakyat�s (people�s) money is lost to corruption and mismanagement, money meant to help the poor and the needy, money meant for nation building. Why aren�t the people outraged? Why aren�t more Christian�s outraged? This is a moral issue. This is a spiritual issue.

In a recent ministry trip to Malaysia, a new friend asked for my opinion as to whether Christians should be involved in politics. She had one group of friends who were encouraging her to be more involved in politics, folks who wanted to bring about societal change though political engagement and felt that Christians should be at the forefront of such initiatives. On the other hand she had another group of friends who were very concerned that Christians were spending too much time in political action and neglecting evangelism. This group believed that politics can never bring any real change in society, and that real change only came when people�s hearts were transformed through the gospel. This new friend wanted to know what I thought.

Regular readers of this column will probably be able to guess my response. First, I told her that I shared the concern of the group that feared that political action can distract us from our mandate to make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). Indeed the greatest need of humankind is to be reconciled to God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many evangelical Christians have neglected social engagement for so long that they seem to be making up for lost time. Besides social engagement also finds us in the company of new friends. Political activism finds us in the company of good people of other faiths who welcome our partnership. However, when we do evangelism we often find ourselves isolated and alone. We must never lose sight of the primacy of the gospel. But we cannot neglect social engagement as well. It is tough to find a balance but we need to be concerned for both evangelism and societal engagement. We need to do both.

It has to be both. We are to make disciples of all nations but the salt and light mandate (Matthew 5:13-16) means that we are also called to bring biblical values into all spheres of life. This includes caring for what happens in society and using whatever influence we have to see things more in line with God�s will, to see His will more actualised on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). We are to preach the gospel but the God of the gospel is very much concerned for justice and for protecting the poor and the weak. The heart of the God of the gospel is evident in passages like these:

[Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate. 5:13 For this reason whoever is smart keeps quiet in such a time, for it is an evil time.
5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you, as you claim he is. 5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph. (Amos 5:12-15 NET)]

�Hate what is wrong, love what is right!� If the Spirit of this God indwells our hearts, how can we stand by and do nothing in the face of corruption and gross mismanagement? Not all of us will be called to serve in the political arena. But we can write. We can give. We can vote. And we can pray.

As followers of Jesus, we must be God centred, not cause centred. As we carry our crosses and follow Jesus, we will hear Him call us to make disciples of all nations. And we will hear Him remind us that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

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

November 6
Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship Annual Dinner
�Spiritual Friendships in a Globalised World�
7:00 pm
Guild Hall
NUSS Guild House
9 Kent Ridge Drive
Singapore 119241

November 7
Evangel Christian Church
Recognizing God�s Education
(Exodus 2: 11-25)
Sunday Worship Service
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

===================================
Would you consider helping to sponsor the Grace@Work commentary?
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 friends who choose to remain anonymous.

================================
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GRACEWORKS MAIL 42/10. Commentary: The Embryos Are Queueing Up!

2010-10-26T11:05:53Z

GRACEWORKS MAIL 42/10
October 22, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: The Embryos are Queueing Up!
By Bernice Lee

During a recent trip to Hong Kong, I had the joy of attending Sunday service at a vibrant international church there, together with some dear friends. The pastor�s exposition on Romans 12:1 & 2 was illuminating and engaging as he drew from personal experience to illustrate his points. What made me really sit up, though, was his description of the competitiveness in the Hong Kong education system � where even little embryos are on the waiting list. Many parents, including Christian parents, were registering their children-to-be in the schools of choice way before their little progeny had even entered the world.

On the one hand, I was tickled to know that Singapore was not the only place on this planet where parents queued overnight for a place in a premium nursery or play-school. On the other, I was saddened by the fact that knowledge of an ever-faithful God did not immunize Christians from �worrying about tomorrow�. I guess our cultural inheritance as children of the Chinese diaspora still holds greater sway.

I have been equally guilty of succumbing to �the pattern of this world�. Oh, with the best of intentions, I started out life as a parent determined that I would be different. I wouldn�t allow the paper chase to hijack our family�s priorities. So, when son No. 1 came home from kindergarten with a neat little circle by the side of �Chinese Language� in his report card, I made little fuss over it. Thankfully, the kindergarten was enlightened enough to use little shapes in place of grades. So it was a triangle, a square and a circle (in descending order of achievement) if my memory serves me right.

Alas, the years went by, major government exams were taken and passed by our sons with varying degrees of success, and I soon realized that being in mainstream education meant that my courage and defiance would only go so far. I wanted to be a good steward, see our children achieve their potential (a.k.a. academic excellence) and spare them the pain of failure. So, instead, I subjected them to the pain of always trying to better their grades. Truly, it is by the grace of God that they have grown up into young men who love the Lord (and still love their parents!).

In my days as a young parent, home-schooling was not a much-talked-about option, so mainstream education was the regular route. It was only later on in life that a wise friend shared how he had opted out of the system and allowed his sons to develop at their own pace. They did not do spectacularly in school and, at a time when going to the polytechnic was deemed a lesser option, he readily supported their choice of attending one. I know for a fact that both his sons are doing well in their chosen fields.

When Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry about tomorrow, He knew full well our propensity to forget that we have a heavenly Father who will provide for all our needs.

[So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (TNIV)]

What has worrying about eating and drinking got to do with pushing our children to get better grades? Well, better grades mean better jobs, which then mean not having to worry about where the next meal is coming from, or about having a roof over our heads. But where does seeking to steward our children�s potential cross the line into an idolatrous striving for excellence? How are we going to be salt and light in the world if we continue to conform to the world�s pattern of �educational insecurity�? Can we make a difference by celebrating our children for who they are? By seeking God�s will and purpose for their lives rather than imposing our unfulfilled aspirations upon them?

Soo Inn and I were really blessed by the fellowship we had over dinner with two special friends of ours on Friday. One of them, the wife, works in early childhood education and was regaling us with anecdotes from her daily engagement with both preschoolers and their parents. Her school has the dubious honour of being one where the children �just play� and don�t do much formal learning. She has heard often enough from parents who complain that their children do not seem to be gaining very much by way of rote learning. Yet, the school continues to stand firm by their philosophy of providing the little ones with a holistic education that recognizes the uniqueness of each one and fosters a process of self-discovery through play. There are obviously enough parents who value the merits of the school � enrolment is full!

Well, exam season is upon us yet again in this part of the world, and perhaps it is a good time to hear Christ saying, �But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.� (Matthew 6:33 TNIV) It�s taken us a long time to internalize these wise words, and we�re still learning. Having seen how God has blessed our four young men with their respective life journeys, we�re thankful that this is in spite of the fact that we didn�t queue them up while they were yet embryos.

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

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 friends who choose to
remain anonymous.

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

October 30 (Saturday)

Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church
Small Group Leaders' Training
9.30 - 11:00 am
11 Pasir Ris Drive 2,
Singapore 518458
(opposite Loyang Point)

Wesley Methodist Church
Small Group Ministry Leaders' Training
2:00 - 5:00 pm
5 Fort Canning Road
Singapore 179493

October 31(Sunday)

Mt Hermon Bible-Presbyterian Church
Reformation Sunday
"Sola Scriptura" (2 Tim 3:10-17)
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
10 Choa Chu Kang St 52
#01-05, Singapore 689284

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

Your say!
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speak the
truth in love to edify.

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