Soo-Inn Tan

Grace@Work Mail 9/10: A Proverbs 17:17 Friend

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:06:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 9/10
March 5, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: A Proverbs 17:17 Friend
By Soo-Inn Tan

Thank you, all of you who sent in birthday wishes for my birthday. I am truly blessed. One birthday note was particularly special. It read:

[ A Friend Loves at all times . . . That's what you are to us . . .
Happy Birthday and welcome to the senior (sic) club . . .]

I am not sure about the welcome to the senior's club bit. Hey, I am only fifty-five! (Maybe I am in denial.) But I really liked the citation of Proverbs 17:17.

[A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. (TNIV)]

One reading of this verse is that we do not choose our family members. If they are in trouble, we have to help them. They are family after all. But friends, well, we choose our friends. We decide whom we want to bond with. Friendship is a gift. And a true friend sticks with you in good times and bad (Proverbs 18:24b). A true friend loves at all times. Bruce K. Waltke comments:

[(A friend recognises) . . . the inherent worth and dignity of the one with whom he desires to be with at all times in a reciprocal relationship, even in extreme anguish and suffering . . . The parallels (between friend and brother) both combines one's reciprocal advantage in having a friend and a relative and contrasts the friend who chooses covenantal solidarity and the relative who is born into that solidarity (Cf. Luke 10:29-37) . . .

The friend is represented as always present, in good times and bad; the relative only in adversity. A friend rejoices and weeps with you (Rom. 12:15); the relative functions more as a safety net. But even in adversity the friend's spiritual ties are better and stronger than blood ties (18:24 and 27:10). (The Book of Proverbs Chapters 15-31, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005, 57)]

It is clear that the bible has a high view of friendship. Contrast this with how we normally view friends. We often say "he is just a friend," the implication being that the relationship is not a special one, hence the "just." And if we have a low view of friendship, we will not invest the resources needed to make friends and to maintain our friendships.

In contrast, Jesus has a high view of friendship. In what must be one of the most startling revelations in the Scriptures, Jesus, truly God and truly human, calls His disciples, "friends" (John: 15: 9-17). Friendship, as God understands it, is no "lesser-level" relationship. Jesus lives out the ideals of verses like Proverbs 17: 17 and 18: 24. He chose us, He sticks with us through thick and thin, He tells us the truth, and He laid down His life for us. And He calls us to practice the same quality of friendship (John 15:12).

The need for friends is by now proven scientific fact. A recent article in the Straits Times (Singapore) is one recent reminder of the importance of friendship.

[Like it or not you need friends for good health. There is evidence that this is true. Last year, Harvard researchers found that strong social ties can protect against memory loss as people age. A 10-year Australian study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, reported that friendship bonds, rather than family ties, are better predictors of lifespan longevity. Similar studies in Asia have also shown the link between strong social relationships and an increase in life expectancies. (Geraldine Ling, "The Human Connection," Mind Your Body, The Straits Times February 18, 2010, 12.)]

The hard-nosed world of business also understands the power of friendship. Note books like Keith Ferrazzi's, Never Eat Alone (New York, NY: Currency Doubleday, 2005). The subtitle of Ferrazzi's book is instructive: Never eat Alone and Other Secrets To Success, One Relationship At A Time. Maybe I am too much of a purist, but I find the thesis of such books disturbing. There is much good in Ferrazzi's book, lots on how to build meaningful relationships. But I can't help but feel that the ultimate horizon of the book is the personal success of the individual, with the book as a source of techniques on how to make friends so that they can help you succeed.

Surely true friendship focuses on the welfare of our friends and not on what we can get out of them. We choose to love our friends because we value them and not because we can get something from them, even if it is a "win-win" something as proposed by Ferrazzi. Of course friends help each other. That is what friends do. But helping each other is an expression of the friendship, not an end result to work toward. That smacks too much of a pragmatism that can potentially distract us from the inherent "worth and dignity" of our friends.

Am I a Proverbs 17:17 friend? I know I am not. Too many lapses in my love for my friends, and the limits of time and space mean I fail at any attempt to love my friends at all times. I look forward to the new heavens and the new earth where friendship will no longer be crippled by lapses of love and the limits of time and space. In the meantime, verses like Proverbs 17:17 challenge and guide me in how I am to be a true friend to my friends.

I, on the other hand, am grateful for the Proverbs 17:17 friends that the Lord has given me. They have stuck with me through a life that was much more tumultuous than I could ever have imagined. And a birthday is a good time to say, once again, thank you for being my friend.

It seems to me a crime that we should age
These fragile times should never slip us by
A time you never can or shall erase
As friends together watch their childhood fly

Making friends for the world to see
Let the people know you got what you need
With a friend at hand you will see the light
If your friends are there then everything's all right

("Friends," Elton John & Bernie Taupin)

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

Graceworks workshop on Spiritual mentoring in PJ, Malaysia, this coming Saturday!

Graceworks is committed to seeing lives changed through truth and love. Therefore we are delighted that we are able to offer the following workshop on Spiritual Mentoring in PJ on March 13th, in partnership with our friends at Canaanland. Please help by planning to come, praying, and encouraging your friends to come.

Spiritual Mentoring Workshop

Speaker: Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn

Date: 13 March 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 10.30am - 3pm

Venue: Canaanland @ NZX HQ
No. 25, Jalan PJU 1A/41B,
NZX Commercial Centre, Ara Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-78850540/1/2

Email: larry@canaanland.com.my

Investment: RM30 per pax (including materials - excluding lunch)

Descripion:
The greatest need of the hour is not better programmes or more sophisticated technology. The greatest need of the hour is for a transformed community, mature followers of Jesus who will bring Godly wisdom and grace into a needy world. But how do we help followers of Jesus grow in Christ-like maturity?

We will see that spiritual mentoring is a primary "method" that God has provided to help people grow in Christ-likeness. This is the model that Jesus Himself gave us. He developed people through close personal relationships.

This seminar will take a biblical and practical look at questions like:
What are the basic components of spiritual mentoring?
What are the three directions of mentoring?
How can I give and receive spiritual mentoring where I am?

Specific strategies will be suggested as to how you can do spiritual mentoring whether you are starting out or adapting fresh insights to existing programmes.

Our ultimate goal is for participants to grow in their capacity to give and receive spiritual mentoring so that we can be the people that God wants us to be for the times we live in.

For more information, please refer to the Canaanland website at:
www.canaanland.com.my/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=27403

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

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===========================================
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Grace@Work Mail 8/10: Counting the Years

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:12:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 8/10
February 26, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

"It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple." (Isaiah 6:1 NLT)

Commentary: Counting the Years
By Soo-Inn Tan

On the first Sunday of the year, my friend Mark preached on Psalm 90. When he reached verse 10, he asked us to do a little arithmetic. If the verse were to be taken literally, how many years do we have left? I will be 55 this year, so 80 - 55 = 25. Still some time left, but not all the time in the world. The exercise was a good reminder of our mortality. Maybe there is something to be said for how Isaiah marks the years, by identifying a year with the death of a prominent person.

1963, the year that John F Kennedy died. 1997, the year that Mother Theresa died. 2009 was a difficult year for many of us. For many it was the year that Michael Jackson died. But for many of my friends, it was the year that Yasmin Ahmad died, the year that Anthony Yeo died. Some of us are still recovering from the many friends that we lost last year. When will it be our year? How do we confront the fact of our mortality? Isaiah gives us two suggestions.

First, root your life in God. Isaiah 6 finds Isaiah in the temple, worshipping the Lord. We are mortal. God is immortal. And God has made us this offer:

[Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this . . .?" (John 11:25-26 NLT)]

I believe. I have believed for some time now. The passing of the years reminds me that the central reality of my life is my relationship with the Almighty, "Immortal, Invisible, God only wise. (Walter C. Smith)" Indeed I know this God as Abba. My life is in His safe hands. I need not fret about my departure from this life. Dad knows best. And nothing in this life or the life to come can separate me from His love (Romans 8: 35-39). In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah is in the temple. May 2010 find us similarly rooted in our Lord.

To be rooted in the Lord brings us to the other thing that Isaiah teaches us about how we can face the passing of the years --- be faithful to your vocation. Isaiah 6: 1-8 is the record of Isaiah's call to his prophetic ministry. It reminds us of the vocational nature of life. If my time on earth is limited, I do not want to waste my days. I want to invest my life in what God has called me to do. Frederick Buechner puts it nicely:

[ . . in the year that King Uzziah died, or in the year that John F. Kennedy died, or in the year that somebody you loved died, you go into the temple if that is your taste, or you hide your face in the little padded temple of your hands, and a voice says, "Whom shall I send into the pain of a world where people die?" and if you are not careful, you may find yourself answering, "Send me."

. . . a man's vocation is a man's calling. It is the work that he is called to in this world, the thing that he is summoned to spend his life doing. (The Hungering Dark, San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1969, 27.)]

What is my vocation? For some time now I have believed that my calling is to teach God's Word with "relevance, accuracy, and passion" so that lives are transformed for Christ. In more recent times, there has been a further fine-tuning of that mission. I seem to be tasked to teach about the importance of relational transformation, how God's primary way of changing lives is through relationships. This year, I will be teaching on Spiritual Mentoring in two seminaries in Singapore, and leading workshops on the same subject in Malaysia and Canada. And we are receiving many invitations to teach on the subject from churches and Christian organizations. My 2010 planner is filling up fast.

There are many things I can do and many things I would like to do, but with the passing of the years, I must be focused on what I must do --- what God has called me to do. What has God called you to do?

Will I have 25 more years to live? More? Less? God knows. But in the year that _____ died, may I be found rooted in the Lord, faithful to my vocation.

========================================
Ministering this Sunday

February 28
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
Thank You Lord! (Psalm 40)
10:00 - 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

Graceworks workshop on Spiritual mentoring in PJ, Malaysia

Graceworks is committed to seeing lives changed through truth and love. Therefore we are delighted that we are able to offer the following workshop on Spiritual Mentoring in PJ on March 13th, in partnership with our friends at Canaanland. Please help by planning to come, praying, and encouraging your friends to come.

Spiritual Mentoring Workshop

Speaker: Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn

Date: 13 March 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 10.30am - 3pm

Venue: Canaanland @ NZX HQ
No. 25, Jalan PJU 1A/41B,
NZX Commercial Centre, Ara Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-78850540/1/2

Email: larry@canaanland.com.my

Investment: RM30 per pax (including materials - excluding lunch)

Descripion:
The greatest need of the hour is not better programmes or more sophisticated technology. The greatest need of the hour is for a transformed community, mature followers of Jesus who will bring Godly wisdom and grace into a needy world. But how do we help followers of Jesus grow in Christ-like maturity?

We will see that spiritual mentoring is a primary "method" that God has provided to help people grow in Christ-likeness. This is the model that Jesus Himself gave us. He developed people through close personal relationships.

This seminar will take a biblical and practical look at questions like:
What are the basic components of spiritual mentoring?
What are the three directions of mentoring?
How can I give and receive spiritual mentoring where I am?

Specific strategies will be suggested as to how you can do spiritual mentoring whether you are starting out or adapting fresh insights to existing programmes.

Our ultimate goal is for participants to grow in their capacity to give and receive spiritual mentoring so that we can be the people that God wants us to be for the times we live in.

For more information, please refer to the Canaanland website at:
www.canaanland.com.my/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=27403

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

Your say!

Want to respond to this ecommentary?

1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
2. Register.
3. Leave your comment on the "Forum" section.
4. Comments should abide by the Ephesians 4:15 principle: speak the
truth in love to edify.

Or

If you are on Facebook, join the Graceworks group and leave a comment
or start a discussion.

===========================================
Ecommentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
Newer ecommentaries are also posted at www.graceworks.com.sg

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Grace@Work Mail 7/10: A Dinner in Geylang

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:01:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 7/10
February 19, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Geylang: Geylang, also known as Geylang Serai, is a neighbourhood in the city-state of Singapore east of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district. . . Partly untouched by urban projects and developments and so far spared by the gentrification process that has changed the face of Singapore since the 1970s, Geylang's combination of shophouse scenery and hectic day and night life, including a red-light district (particularly the even numbered lanes or Lorongs), foreign workers quarters and karaoke lounges provides an alternative view of elements the rest of modern Singapore generally does not have. (Wikipedia)

Commentary: A Dinner in Geylang
By Soo-Inn Tan

It was a dinner with a difference. The Minister shook hands with an ex-pimp. Bishops mingled with ex-offenders. Glitterati waited in line for their food next to migrant workers. The caterer was one of the best in the city. The dinner was held under tents that had previously housed APEC leaders. And all this happened in Geylang. As one pastor put it, this was a foretaste of heaven and he was right.

The event was the 50th birthday celebration of my friend Dr. Goh Wei Leong. A successful GP, he could have held his birthday dinner in any posh hotel in town. But he decided to hold it in Geylang instead, an area famous for its red light district. It is also an area that houses a large number of foreign workers. Why? Because HealthServe is there.

[HealthServe is a non-profit community development organisation dedicated to serving the interests of the migrants, disadvantaged and poor in the local community, regardless of ethnicity, gender, language and religion.

Set up in October 2006, HealthServe, along with its Geylang clinic, is strategically sited within the compound of Highpoint Community Services. We aim to serve by offering medical, legal advice, counselling services and HIV screening tests through our community clinics. (http://www.healthserve.org.sg/)]

Wei Leong had been instrumental in starting up HealthServe. He decided to celebrate his birthday in a place that reflected his deepest values. He wanted his closest friends and family to know that he followed a Lord who reached out to all. Here is one account of Jesus reaching out through a meal:

[Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with such scum?"
Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don"t need a doctor - sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent."
(Luke 5:37-42 NLT)]

Darrell L. Bock comments on this passage:

[Can those in need really come to Jesus? Or will they need to be cleansed first, as the Jewish leadership suggests?

In this event, Jesus showed that his mission is not accomplished by separatism. Jesus will not wait for sinners. He will seek them out. He will accept them as persons; but he will challenge sinners to meet the God who can bind up wounds and bring them back to health.

Some may be startled at the ministry's openness. They may react that such associations taint the teacher's credentials and raise questions about his spiritual integrity. But what Jesus' actions show is the extent of his compassion and the depth of God's grace.

The Physician seeks out the sick and calls them into the hospital room of God's care. In the context of personal acceptance, they may begin to listen, open up to God, and find the way to spiritual health. (Luke 1:1 - 9:50, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004, 500.)]

Make no mistake, Jesus calls people to repent. But His call comes in the context of personal acceptance. "In the context of personal acceptance, (it is hoped that) they may begin to listen, to open up to God, and find the way to spiritual health. (Bock)"

I wonder, if you and I had been around during the events of Luke 5:37 - 42, would we have rejoiced with Jesus and the disciples, or would we have been scandalised like the Pharisees and voiced our disapproval? Take a few moments to think about your church community. How do you think they would react to Jesus' reaching out to tax-collectors? Prostitutes? Migrant workers? Are our churches hospitals for the sick or are they country clubs for the "well?"

The irony is that we are all sick. "For all have sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. (Romans 3:23 NLT)" It's just that some of us do not know that we are sick and so we do not seek the life-giving Lordship of the Master Physician. Many in Geylang are under no such illusion. And in offering a feast in Geylang, Wei Leong helps to proclaim the message of a generous God who reaches out to all.

I am deeply encouraged by ministries like HealthServe and friends like Wei Leong. If Jesus were around today, He would be in places like Geylang. He is.

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

Graceworks workshop on Spiritual mentoring in PJ, Malaysia

Graceworks is committed to seeing lives changed through truth and love. Therefore we are delighted that we are able to offer the following workshop on Spiritual Mentoring in PJ on March 13th, in partnership with our friends at Canaanland. Please help by planning to come, praying, and encouraging your friends to come.

Spiritual Mentoring Workshop

Speaker: Rev Dr Tan Soo-Inn

Date: 13 March 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 10.30am - 3pm

Venue: Canaanland @ NZX HQ
No. 25, Jalan PJU 1A/41B,
NZX Commercial Centre, Ara Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-78850540/1/2

Email: larry@canaanland.com.my

Investment: RM30 per pax (including materials - excluding lunch)

Descripion:
The greatest need of the hour is not better programmes or more sophisticated technology. The greatest need of the hour is for a transformed community, mature followers of Jesus who will bring Godly wisdom and grace into a needy world. But how do we help followers of Jesus grow in Christ-like maturity?

We will see that spiritual mentoring is a primary "method" that God has provided to help people grow in Christ-likeness. This is the model that Jesus Himself gave us. He developed people through close personal relationships.

This seminar will take a biblical and practical look at questions like:
What are the basic components of spiritual mentoring?
What are the three directions of mentoring?
How can I give and receive spiritual mentoring where I am?

Specific strategies will be suggested as to how you can do spiritual mentoring whether you are starting out or adapting fresh insights to existing programmes.

Our ultimate goal is for participants to grow in their capacity to give and receive spiritual mentoring so that we can be the people that God wants us to be for the times we live in.

For more information, please refer to the Canaanland website at:
www.canaanland.com.my/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=27403

=================================
Ministering this Sunday

February 21
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
“Shepherd of my soul” (Psalm 23)
10:00 – 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

Your say!

Want to respond to this ecommentary?

1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
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3. Leave your comment on the "Forum" section.
4. Comments should abide by the Ephesians 4:15 principle: speak the
truth in love to edify.

Or

If you are on Facebook, join the Graceworks group and leave a comment
or start a discussion.

===========================================
Ecommentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
Newer ecommentaries are also posted at www.graceworks.com.sg

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Grace@Work Mail 6/10: Share With Respect

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:55:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 6/10
February 12, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Sharing with Respect
By Soo-Inn Tan

This was the front page story of the Straits Times (Singapore) on February 9, 2010: "ISD calls up pastor for insensitive comments." The government's Internal Security Department had called up a church leader, Pastor Tan, after receiving complaints about two video clips he had posted on his church's website that showed him making "insensitive comments about Buddhism."

[The video clips . . . showed Pastor Tan questioning two church members as they recounted their past experiences as Buddhists.
In the exchange, some of Pastor Tan's comments --- on Buddhist precepts of rebirth, karma, and nirvana --- drew laughter from his audience.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said . . . that his comments were "highly inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists." (Yen Feng)]

Pastor Tan has since removed the video clips from his church website and has apologised to the Buddhist and Taoist communities, promising that such incidents would not happen again.

I tried to track down the video clips but failed. I am reluctant to comment on things I have not seen firsthand. But the incident was another reminder that in a post 9/11 world, Singapore, like many other countries, is working extra hard to prevent tensions between various religious communities.

Followers of Jesus have been commanded to bring the gospel message to all peoples (Luke 24:47). Maybe its time to think afresh how we are to do this. Paul's preaching on Mars Hill in Acts 17:16 - 34 gives us some guidelines.

First, he respected the spiritualities of the people he was trying to reach. This is how he starts his speech:

[So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way . . . (v.22 NLT)]

The sentence is ambiguous and can bear a more sarcastic meaning but most scholars see Paul beginning his speech with a genuine compliment. It is hard to see him running down another religion. Indeed there is much we can learn from those of other faiths. I learnt some key lessons about life from a Muslim neighbour and a Buddhist friend.

Next, Paul affirms his common humanity with the Athenians, quoting a local poet that maintained that all human beings are "offspring" of the same god (v.28). Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, we are all sinners estranged from a holy God because of our sin, without hope apart form the gospel of Jesus. There is no place for triumphalism or for ridiculing those who do not know Christ.

[God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT)]

Third, we see Paul working hard to build bridges to his audience. When Paul is speaking to Jews, he appeals to the Scriptures but when he speaks to Gentiles, he argues from creation (v24-26), from the audiences religious expression (v.22-23), and from popular culture, quoting two popular poets of the day (vv. 27-28).

This is how Ram Gidoomal, a social entrepreneur based in the U.K., tries to build a bridge for the gospel to his Hindu friends. The following is taken from an interview he did with Andy Crouch for Christianity Today:

[In my cultural context, the biggest religious problem is your karma: your karmic debt. What you sow, you reap. You come to this earth with a karmic account, then you die and you're reincarnated, and that depends on how you've done in this life. When I read about Jesus' death on the Cross, it wasn't so much the sacrifice for sin that struck me as the sacrifice for karma. The Christians I met spoke of sin in this life, but that was meaningless to me. Karma was what mattered. So I decided, When they talk about sin, I think of karma, and I believe Jesus died for my karma, so I am going to accept him on those terms. ("Christ, My Bodhisattva," Christianity Today, May, 2007)]

Are there risks in building bridges? Of course. Paul could have been mistaken for subscribing to polytheism in what he did in Acts 17:23. And there are those who think that Ram's approach above distorts the gospel by changing the categories in which it is discussed. What we need to note is that such bridges are just the beginning of a conversation. At some point we will have to explain the gospel in detail. Paul may have begun at the Athenian's altar to an unknown god but he ends with a clear presentation of the gospel (vv.30-31).

Paul reminds his audience of a final judgement, of their need to repent of their sins and to turn back to God, and that Jesus is the Messiah, a fact established by Jesus's resurrection. A bridge brings you from one place to another. It is an attempt to help someone journey from his or her woldview to the gospel. But at the end of the journey is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In a pluralistic world then, whether it is the 1st century of Paul's time, or the post 9/11 world of our time, the gospel remains the same and we are to share it faithfully. But as Paul shows us, we are to do it while respecting the religious expressions of those who do not know Christ. We do this by remembering the common humanity we share with those we are trying to reach, and by working hard to build bridges for the gospel.

If people want to reject the gospel, let them do so because they refuse to accept the claims of the gospel, and not because they are turned off by the offensive behaviour of those who carry the gospel. The book of Acts also shows that there may be times when followers of Jesus have to suffer for the privilege of sharing the gospel (Acts 5:17-42). After all we follow a Jesus who calls us to carry our cross daily (Luke 9:23-26). But we are also called to love our neighbour and that means sharing the gospel in a spirit of humility and respect. We also follow a Jesus who washed dirty feet.

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

PS A blessed Lunar New year to all celebrating!

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

Ministering this week

February 14
Georgetown Baptist Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"The Three Calls of Life"
Genesis 1:26-2:4; 2:18-25
9:00 am
11:00 am
14 Jalan Larut
Penang, Malaysia

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

Your say!

Want to respond to this ecommentary?

1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
2. Register.
3. Leave your comment on the "Forum" section.
4. Comments should abide by the Ephesians 4:15 principle: speak the
truth in love to edify.

Or

If you are on Facebook, join the Graceworks group and leave a comment
or start a discussion.

===========================================
Ecommentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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Grace@Work Mail 5/10: Tensions

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:19:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 5/10
February 5th, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Tensions
By Soo-Inn Tan

Spoke to a group of Anglican youth last Tuesday morning (Feb 2nd). The topic assigned to me was a mouthful --- and important. I was told to speak on "Preparing to live out your faith in a real and broken world" to a group of young people between the ages of 17 and 22. As I looked at the young souls before me, I wanted to say "you must listen to this. This is important. You do not know what a fallen world will throw at you as you grow up!" But I didn't. Most of them had not gone through any life crunching struggles. I could only hope that they would remember the things I shared when they needed to. I could only claim for them the promise that God would not let them be tested beyond what they could bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Still, I tried my best to tell them a few things from my own journey and from the Word. I told them that the world is broken because of sin. (Images from Haiti were still dominating the media.) I told them that God entered human existence in Jesus, and that He knows the human condition firsthand. I told them that Jesus had defeated evil decisively on the Cross, but that the fullness of the restoration must await His return.

I told them that one of the skills they had to learn as they grow up is to be able to live with ambiguity and with tension. In this case, they had to be able to live with the twin truths that the victory over brokenness has already been won at the Cross ("it is finished" John 19:30) while the full experience of that victory awaits the new heaven and the new earth. They had to hold on to both truths. They had to be confident of the victorious power of God when the storms of life hit. They should confidently pray to their Abba Father and expect that Abba will never let them down. In a world that is increasingly secular, I wanted them to be confident of the reality, the character, and the power of the living God.

At the same time I didn't want them to be disillusioned if their prayers didn't get answered in the way they wanted or in their preferred time frame. They had to learn, as all of us have to at some point, about the utter sovereignty of God. He will still do what is best whether we recognise that best or not this side of heaven. I told the young people that there have been times in my life when I was totally perplexed by something that God did or didn't do. But I also told them that I had known God long enough to trust in His character even when I didn't understand His methods.

I wasn't sure if anything I said was getting through. As expected, with a group of young people, there was a lot of teasing and chatting while the talk was going on. I found this very distracting and I gave my usual spiel in such situations, that if the talk was not helpful they could leave the room and I wouldn't hold it against them. That worked for all of fifteen minutes. (Confession: I get stressed out speaking to youth which is why I prefer to speak to groups college aged and older.) I had some break out sessions with small group discussion, which resulted in more interaction --- and more noise. They did give me a thank you card after I finished. The card contained a number of notes which said that they had learned a lot from my talk, and had been inspired. I wanted to believe them.

In any case I closed by saying that there were two things they could do to fortify their faith for whatever lay ahead in their lives. They had to encounter the Lord on a regular basis through reading the Word. And they must have a few close spiritual friends to walk with. I turned to my favourite passage, the Emmaus Road Encounter from Luke 24: 13-49 and pointed that in times when God seems to have failed us, we need a friend to walk with, and we need to let Jesus sear our hearts with the Word. I hoped that if they got nothing from my talk, they would remember these two essentials of following Jesus: Scripture and spiritual friends. I think most of them did. And if they did, they would be prepared to live out their faith in a real and broken world. If they had these two things in place, they would encounter Christ in their brokenness, and in encountering Christ they will find healing, and meaning, and the equipping they needed to help others.
(Was I seventeen once?)

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Grace@Work Mail 4/10: Seeing Mum

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:51:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 4/10
January 29th, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Seeing Mum
By Soo-Inn Tan

Bernice and I did a lightning visit to Penang this last Monday to Wednesday (Jan 25th - 27th, 2010.). We went to visit my mum. Widowed, she lives with a maid in her home in Pulau Tikus. We have asked her to live with us in Singapore many times, but like many Penang folk, she is not keen to leave her island. Besides her primary social networks are there.

Mum will be eighty-three this year and I wonder how much time I will have with her. In truth nobody knows when their time is up and I may die first. Still, in the normal course of things, I tell myself that I have to be prepared to bid her goodbye. Our times together are extra precious now.

Bernice and I have our hands full with ministry, church and family here in Singapore. And when we do go back to Malaysia, it's usually to Kuala Lumpur where we still have ministry responsibilities. I was thinking that I should go back to Penang to see mum at least once a quarter but it suddenly dawned on me that four times a year is precious little for an only son to see his aging mother.

We are still encouraging mum to visit us in Singapore but I need to go home more often. The pragmatic side of me is trying to find more ministry gigs in Penang so I can visit mum and also do some work there but even if there is no work I will still try to visit mum more frequently. Indeed with so many budget airlines now flying between Singapore and Penang I have little excuse for not doing so.

No brownie points for trying to visit mum more often. Honouring parents is a command taught in both the Old and the New Testaments (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2-3). Here are some thoughts from Bruce K. Waltke about the fifth commandment.

[ . . .to honor one's parents is to esteem them as having value . . . "To honor" exalts the object. (Old Testament Theology, Grand Rapids, Mi: Zondervan, 2007, 425)
The commandment has several implications. First to honor parents involves taking care of them (cf. Exod. 21:15, 17; Lev. 20:19; Deut. 27:16; Prov. 19:26). (Waltke, 426)]

The bible also teaches that mothers together with fathers, are responsible for teaching their children about life, and that the son who remembers his parents teaching is wise (Proverbs 1:8; 6:20). I continue to learn from mum.

Whenever we talk about the political problems Malaysia is facing, or the ravages of the global economic downturn, mum would say "ah, but this is nothing compared to what we went through in World War Two." She is right of course. I don't think she is making light of the problems we are facing today but her experience of having survived World War Two does help us to put things in clearer perspective. More than that, mum's faith and tenacity, which has seen her through so much, inspire us to face life with the same bold faith.

(Incidentally, learning from mum reinforces my own resistance to generation specific services, like services purely for youth or purely for seniors. The different generations have so much to offer each other. We deprive ourselves of the wisdom of other generations when we segregate a church along generational lines.)

This trip, mum also said a few times that I was someone who "ai-bin," literally, someone who "desires face." It means that I was someone who hungers for fame and for the limelight. She said it in jest, in the course of commenting on some of my youthful achievements. But on further thought, her teasing is a timely word. As our ministry continues to grow, the threat of the growth of unhealthy pride is real. And "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18 TNIV)." Thanks, mum. I continue to learn from you.

Since mum still has so much to teach me, visiting her more often is not just for her sake. It is also very much for mine. Next visit, Lunar New Year.

===============================================
Ministering this Sunday

Holy Light Presbyterian Church (English Congregation),
Sunday Morning Worship
"The Two Paths of Life" (Psalm 1)
9:30 am
@ Hillville:
Lot 156608, Persiaran Pondorosa Utama,
Taman Pondorosa,
81100 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

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

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Grace@Work Mail 3/10: Dancing With Wolves on Pandora

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:17:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 3/10
January 22nd, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Dancing With Wolves on Pandora
By Soo-Inn Tan

Went to see the movie "Avatar" on Christmas '09. "Avatar" is an incredible action movie. And James Cameron has done an outstanding job constructing the fantasy world that is Pandora. However, long before you hear the first battle cry of the Na'vi (the ingeniousness people of Pandora), you already know that you are in a "cowboys and Indians" movie. (Forgive the politically incorrect terms.) I like Stanley A. Miller II's review in the Journal Sentinel:

["Avatar" is big.
Huge blue aliens, gigantic war machines and Jurassic-size wildlife make this sci-fi movie, which hit theaters Friday, a colossus.
Cascading with special effects and 3-D engineering, "Avatar" marvels at its own visually captivating technical superiority - and for many moviegoers, this brilliant style will be entertaining enough.
There is plenty of gee-whiz technology to keep the audience marveling over how they did this and that, so that, with any luck, viewers won't dwell too long on the derivative, unimaginative story and the shallow characters.
("Effects steal show in predictable 'Avatar,'" JSOnline, 18 December, 2009.)]

Shallow characters indeed. How can we not fall in love with the two main characters, wanting them to fall in love and conquer all their enemies? How can we not hate the evil Colonel? How can we not cheer when the Michelle Rodriguez character appears in war paint, and how could we not shed a tear of two when she goes down fighting? And whether in blue or in pink, isn't the hero just another white American kid who wins the day, and the lady, through his spunk, bravery, luck, superior violence and good old 'aw-shucks" cuteness? Shallow characters? Well, definitely stock characters.

But it is the story line that bugs me. I am old enough to see how the "cowboys and Indians" story line has evolved. When I was young, the cowboys were the good guys, poor struggling settlers trying to make a living in the American West. The Indians were cruel pagans who killed without mercy. We were glad when the cavalry finally arrives to save the day, killing the evil Indians, and saving the good cowboys.

Nowadays, the Indians or whatever indigenous group in a story, are the good guys, spiritual, loving, green, innocent. The cowboys are now the greedy, crass, exploiting imperialists ever ready to use force and trickery to bully the indigenous people for political and commercial gains. The roles have been reversed, The "cowboys" are now the bad guys and the "Indians" are the good guys and we just can't wait for the Indians to rise up and give the evil cowboys a bloody nose. "Avatar" is the latest offering of this new "reality." As I watched "Avatar" I immediately thought of movies like "Dances With Wolves" and "The Last Samurai."

I have trouble with both the old and the new portrayals of cowboys and Indians. Why? "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 NET)]. But movies like "Avatar" divide the world into good guys and bad guys, and the bad guys are always the other side. How can we hope to build community in a pluralistic world with such a "us-them" approach to settling conflicts? We don't need this in Malaysia, or Nigeria, or anywhere. Truth is, the primary divide is not between human beings. The primary divide is between a Holy God and a fallen humanity. And we are all on the same side of this divide.

My other main problem with movies like "Avatar" is that it portrays violence as the main way we solve complex human problems. Sure the Sigourney Weaver character advocates an approach to inter communal relations by literally entering the skin of the other community so that you can understand them better, hence the Avatar programme. And it is this approach that enables the hero to understand and then identify with the Na'vi. But all this is lost in the adrenaline charged pyrotechnics of the climactic battle scenes. Ya, ya we need to understand each other, yada, yada, yada, but the day is won by the good guys beating the c___ out of the bad guys.

Compare the Avatar type approach to movies like Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The lesson there is that evil tempts us all and that we all must be vigilant against it. The lesson there is that the day is won when different types of people learn to work together for a common cause. The lesson there is that the day is won, finally, not through violence, but through love, and friendship, and faith, and loyalty. These are the lessons we need to hear in the dark days we live in.

Maybe I am too optimistic or too old. When a young person heard me complain that the story line in "Avatar" was weak, he said, 'if I want a good story I read a book." I presume that he was more than happy with the entertainment value of "Avatar" and the ground breaking film making technology on show there. (Others obviously agree with my young friend. "Avatar" won "best drama" at the recent Golden Globes and her director, James Cameron, won the "best director" award.) I am afraid I have a higher regard for movies. They are the primary narratives of our day. And yes, I expect a good movie to entertain me, but I still look for something more. I still expect a good movie to also point me to truths that will strengthen my heart to be a better person, working for a better world. Hmm. . . anybody want to join me for another "Lord of the Rings" marathon?

==========================================
Ministering this Sunday

Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"Which Way Would It Be?" (Psalm 1)
10:00 -11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

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Grace@Work Mail 2/10: If Jesus is the Answer . . .

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:54:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 2/10
January 15th, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: If Jesus is the Answer . . .
By Soo-Inn Tan

In the seventies, it was popular in some Christian circles to publicize the cause of Christ by pushing the slogan "Jesus is the answer." Of course it didn't take long for some one to retort in reply, "but what is the question?" This morning I revisited the question when I had the privilege of sharing a devotion with my church board at a planning retreat. I thought it was a question worth revisiting. We know that Jesus is indeed the answer to humankind's deepest needs. but how do we minister in a way that makes this clear to a hurting world? By ensuring that our ministries take seriously four hungers that I see in the world around us.

First is the hunger for transcendence. One symptom of this hunger is the persistence of stories and movies that deal with supernatural themes. Many Christians are disturbed by the depiction of evil in many of such movies. Some are better made than others. (I maintain that the first six seasons of the X-Files are still to be bested in any genre of TV film making.) But as Tim Keel reminds us, there is more here than meets the eye.

[I believe these movies awaken the soul to realities that exist beyond the hyperrationalistic and material world and testify to the spiritual hunger inherent in people who intuitively sense there is more going on than meets the eye. (Intuitive Leadership, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007, 179.)]

When people come to our meetings do they encounter the Holy? Do they go away thinking "God is really among you? (1 Corinthians 14:25 NET)" Or do they see slick presentations that are technology dependent, showmanship that wows whether God shows up or not? I am always haunted by the fact that the early church grew fastest at a time when the church was basically poor and had little of the resources of the world.

Then there is the hunger for community. Daily we read of studies that tell of the destructive effects of social isolation. Truly, it is not good for humankind to be alone (Genesis 2:18). The bible says so. So does empirical science. We live in an increasingly lonely society. People are dying of loneliness, sometimes literally. Are our churches communities where people will find the human relationships they need?

Often our churches are impersonal lonely places where the emphasis is on learning the right things, or doing as much as you can, for the Lord of course. Relationships are assumed and are often missing. The experience of loneliness in a church can sometimes be more acute because we talk so much about love. But love is a verb and we do it too little.

I am glad that we spent the first part of our planning meeting this morning having everyone share their conversion story. The exercise took some time. It was awhile before we got to the business part of our day. Wasted time? On the contrary, the time of sharing helped us to know each other better and contributed to a good day's work.

The church father Tertullian reported that the Romans had this to say about the church: "see how they love one another." Would the onlooking world say that about your church?

Third, there is the hunger for truth. The world is going through rapid and tumultuous change. In times like these, people are asking again, what is true? How do we live? Indeed the very stress of rapid change surfaces old questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Why must we die? What is right? What is wrong? Does life have meaning?

We are told that in a post modern world, people resist the notion of absolute truth. Truth is now personalised and subjective. What is true for me may not be true for you. Post modernism is a complex phenomenon. I believe that it is largely a reaction to an arrogant modernism which taught it had all the answers, a modernity that was often based on a materialistic approach to life, believing that all that is true is all that can be studied with the scientific methodology of the day. Hence the post modern reaction.

However beneath the romantic notions of post modernism, the age old questions remain. This is how popular singer Jackson Browne puts it:

[Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon
Hunger in the banquet, hunger in the bride and groom
Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page
And there's a God-sized hunger underneath the questions of the age
(Looking East)]

Do our teaching and our lives reflect the fact that we know that "(God's) word is a lamp to walk by, and a light to illumine (our) path (Psalm 119:105 NET)?"

Finally, there is the need to make a difference. We all want our lives to count for something. We want to give our lives to something bigger than ourselves. We may cringe at news of the latest suicide bombing. Yet surely the suicide bomber must have seen his or her supreme sacrifice as aiding some cause worth dying for. I am very conscious that we do not get people into our churches so that we can use them for our plans and programmes. Yet part of following Christ is to hear His call for us to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) and to love others because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Jesus calls us to the most important cause of all. Do our churches encourage and help people to be connected to God's call to make a difference in His name?

These then are the hungers that we need to take seriously because they are the questions that lead us to Jesus.

Hungry for transcendence? In Christ we encounter the living God.
Hungry for community? In Christ we encounter our Lord and our Divine friend who connects us with His community.
Hungry for truth? In Christ we encounter the author and the illuminator of the Word.
Hungry to make a difference? Jesus says be salt and light, be fishers of men.

Yes, Jesus is still the answer. But let us be clear as to the questions. May they guide us as we plan our ministries for a new year.

==================================
Ministering this Sunday

January 17
Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church
Sunday Morning Worship
A Christian Perspective on Homosexuality
8:30 am
10:00 am
11 Pasir Ris Drive 2
Singapore 518458

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

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Grace@Work Mail 1/10: Come, now is the time to worship

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:04:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 1/10
January 8th, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Come, Now Is The Time To Worship
By Soo-Inn Tan

"It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple." (Isaiah 6:1 NLT)

I write this column with a heavy heart. A number of church buildings in Malaysia were bombed last night. One caught fire though the damage was controlled and no lives were lost. This is the latest incident in the escalation of tensions over the Malaysian government's banning of Christians from using the word "Allah" to refer to God. Christians in Malaysia, particularly those from East Malaysia, have been using "Allah" as a name of God for hundreds of years. It is an Arabic word that pre-dates Islam. Most Muslim scholars allow the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, to use the word to refer to God. Now the government says that, in the Malaysian context, "Allah" is exclusive to Islam. (Our neighbour, Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, have no problems with Christians using the name "Allah."

Pushed against the wall, a Roman Catholic paper took the government to court, arguing that constitutionally the government could not ban non-Muslim religions from using the name "Allah." The Malaysian High Court ruled in their favour. The government is appealing against this decision and also managed to get a stay of execution on the ruling. That means the ban stays for now. Meanwhile, certain Muslims groups have been protesting against the High Court's decision. (It must be said that many Muslims are also disturbed by the protests and the bombings.) And now church buildings have been bombed. My heart is very heavy.

Originally I had planned to write my first column of the year based on reflections on Isaiah's call in Isaiah 6: 1-13. I was wondering if I should now write a different column in response to the deteriorating situation in Malaysia. On further reflection, I decided that Isaiah 6:1-13 was precisely the passage for the hour. Here are some lessons for all of us.

1. We put our trust in God to save us.
("In the year that King Uzziah died . . .")

King Uzziah was a good king who did much to improve the lot of Judah. But he was mortal. He died. So while we encourage all good people to stand up and be counted in this dark hour, our ultimate trust is in God almighty. Even the best of us will fail. God will never fail. It is a time for faith and hope. And our faith and hope are in the Lord.

2. God is sovereign.
("He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.")

None of what has happened has taken God by surprise. He has allowed it. He is still on His throne. He is still working out His purposes in history. We need not and we must not be shaken. Our God is a big God. He is bigger than all that is transpiring. He will work things out. He will bring good out of evil. And we are His.

3. God is holy.
(�Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven�s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!�)

God is utterly holy. Evil will not triumph in the end. We have no inkling of the awesomeness of God's holiness. The shaking of the Temple foundations and the filling of the Temple with smoke were merely hints of a mighty God that cannot be trifled with. He cares more about justice and compassion than we will ever do. We need not doubt that evil will fail in the end.

4. We must first take responsibility for our own sin.
('Then I said, �It�s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips.')

When we have been the victims of evil, we tend to think of those who have hurt us as evil and ourselves as good. In doing so we will find it hard to "love our enemies" and we become blind to our own sin. The evil is not just "out there." It is first and foremost in our own hearts. Let us deal with our own sin first.

5. We must ask God what He would have us do.
("Then I heard the Lord asking, 'Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?' I said, 'Here I am. Send me.'")

This is a confusing time with a cacophony of voices telling us what we should do. And then there are the voices of fear and hatred. We need to hear and attend to one voice only--- the voice of our Lord and our Father. "Father what would you have us do at this time?" "Tell us and we will do it." It is as simple as that. God is speaking. We need to quieten our spirits and listen. In good times and bad, our primary call is to hear and obey.

Sometimes this comes with a price. Here is a later passage from Isaiah:

[The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,
so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me
and opens my understanding to his will.

The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me,
and I have listened.
I have not rebelled or turned away.
I offered my back to those who beat me
and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.
I did not hide my face
from mockery and spitting.

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
determined to do his will.
And I know that I will not be put to shame.
Isaiah 50:4-7 NLT)]

"Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced." Come, now is the time to worship.

==================================
Ministering this Sunday

January 10th
New Life Baptist Church
�The Salt and Light Mandate�
(Matthew 5:13-16)
Sunday Morning Worship
9:30 � 11:30 am
Wedge Mount Building
35 Jalan Pemimpin #04-02,
Singapore 577176

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

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Grace@Work Mail 52/09: Don't Compare

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:54:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 52/09
December 31st, 2009 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Don't Compare
By Soo-Inn Tan

There was a time when I would compare my life with that of my peers. In a particularly dark period of my life, a time when I had lost most of my public ministry, I would think of a classmate of mine from Regent, and wonder why my life was not like his. He was pastoring a mega church and was a leader in his denomination, and the evangelical movement in his country. He was living the life I was supposed to live. I didn't begrudge him his ministerial success. He was a humble and dedicated man. But I couldn't help comparing, and wondering why, in comparison, my life was in such a mess.

I have learnt by now that I shouldn't compare but I am not alone in doing this. There was one occasion when the apostle Peter compared himself with "the beloved disciple." The incident is recorded in the last chapter of John's gospel.

[Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. (This was the disciple who had leaned back against Jesus' chest at the meal and asked, �Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?�) So when Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, �Lord, what about him?" Jesus replied, �If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours? You follow me!� (John 21:20-22, NET)]

Here is Gerald L. Borchert's comment on the incident:

[We tend to focus on comparisons. That is usually the way we try to understand whether we are okay. But that is not the way it works with God. God is concerned about us personally. Of course, God is concerned about our community, our brothers and sisters, our friends, the world. But these can stand in the way of our confronting our own individual responsibilities before God. Our concern for others can actually sidetrack us from facing God's personal demands on us. That was the problem with Peter in this verse, and Jesus was prepared to confront him with this sidetracking of his personal calling. (JOHN 12 - 21, Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002, 339)]

Or as Eugene Peterson puts it:

[It is not given to us to know what God is doing with others; we need to pay attention to what he is doing with us. (A Year With Jesus, San Francisco, CA: Harper SanFrancisco, 2006, 389)]

Paying attention to our own lives is what we need to do as we mark the end of 2009 and look to 2010. It is a time to look back on the year that is passing. Take note of the many instances of God's grace in our lives in 2009. We don't count our blessings as often as we should. Most of us live our lives at such a frantic pace that we hardly take time to thank people much less to thank God. Yet it is in counting our blessings that we are reminded afresh of the generous care of God, and in remembering we find fresh faith to face the year ahead.

Looking back at 2009 also means confronting the many areas we have fallen short of God's ideals for us. Indeed, the earlier part of John Chapter 21 records Jesus confrontation of Peter for his triple denial (John 21:15-19). Jesus takes the initiative to reach out to Peter, to give him an opportunity to deal with his failure. In recording this exchange, "It is almost as though the evangelist is affirming the well-known concept that for a person to become right with God and gain a sense of release from the past sense of rebellion that that person should face the reality of where the deviation or sin occurred. (Borchert, JOHN 12-21, 333.) Coming to terms with our failures will be painful. But we take comfort that Jesus wants to forgive and to restore. What issues in our lives do we need to deal with before we move into 2010?

Year end is also a good time to hear afresh Jesus's question to Peter: "Do you love me?" In response to Jesus all-giving love, do we love Him in return? It is very possible to be doing a lot of good things, and a lot of good things for the Lord, and yet fail to love Him. Is loving Jesus the primary reality in your life? In mine? It seems we can get many things right and fail in this primary call. "Lord, help me put you first in my heart and in my life as I enter a new year."

After we have reaffirmed our love for the Lord, He will give us clear vocational instructions as to how we are to live out that love. As Peter dealt with his triple denial and reaffirmed his love for the Lord, Jesus gives Peter fresh instructions (John 21:15-17): "Feed my lambs," "Shepherd my sheep," "Feed my sheep." After we have given our hearts afresh to the Lord, expect that He will give you guidance as to things you can do to live out that love in the year ahead. And as Peter discovered, and as we must discover too, we must not compare the tasks that God assigns us with the tasks He assigns to others. Our call is not to compare our lives with the lives of others. Our call is to follow Jesus (John 21: 22).

The Lord is teaching me not to compare my life with the lives of others. I am learning. Indeed it was when I stopped comparing myself with others that I began to truly discover the wonder and significance of my own story. I pray that more and more, that will be your experience too. God has not called you to be somebody else. He has called you to be you.

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

PS. This is the last commentary for 2009. Thank you for allowing us to walk with you through the year. Praying this for all of us in 2010:

Day by day
Day by day
Oh dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
(Godspell)

=====================================
Graceworks Announcements

We are pleased to announce our upcoming release, Bribery and Corruption: Biblical Reflections and Case Studies for the Marketplace in Asia by Hwa Yung, Bishop of the Methodist churches in Malaysia. This short book is one attempt to respond to the need to help Christians in Asia find a biblical response to the real pressures they face in the marketplace. It takes seriously both the Scriptures and the context in which Asian Christians function.

In order to provide a holistic look at the issues involved, Bribery and Corruption begins with a theological framework for grappling with real-time problems, continues with responses from various theologians on the framework presented, and concludes with actual case studies from the marketplace.

We're really excited by the prospect of fostering dialogue in the marketplace on such a current and pertinent issue for many.

You can order the book from our website:www.graceworks.com.sg/
Click on "Store."

Or write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg
and we will let you know how you can purchase the book.

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Grace@Work Mail: Christmas '09

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:21:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL: Christmas '09

"Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord."
(Luke 2:10b-11 NET)

Be encouraged for
In a smelly manger Christ
Came to end our night

Dear friends,
There will be no commentary this week. We will return next week with the last commentary of the year (Lord willing). In the meantime we pray that the Lord will renew your joy and hope this Christmas! And may we grow deeper in the knowledge and in the service of our Lord in 2010.
Much affection in Him,
Soo Inn & Bernice

PS. If you are free tomorrow morning and in Singapore, come join us for Christmas service! I will be sharing on the topic: And God Came Down

December 25th
Evangel Christian Church
Christmas Morning Worship
"And God Came Down"
(Exodus 3:1 - 10)
10:00 - 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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Grace@Work Mail 51/09: The Presents Are Under The Bed

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:40:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 51/09
December 18th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: The Presents Are Under The Bed
By Soo-Inn Tan

Growing up in a Christian family, I remembered Christmas as a time for presents. I was really crazy about aircraft plastic scale model kits in my later years in primary (elementary) school. I would buy them from a shop near my house. We lived in Pulau Tikus, Penang and the shop's name was Erawan if I remember correctly. I could afford to buy the smaller kits with my pocket money but I had to ask dad and mum to buy me the bigger ones and usually they would buy them for me for Christmas. We usually bought the kits about a week before Christmas. I was allowed to keep the presents underneath my bed with strict instructions not to open them till Christmas day.

I was a good boy and I waited till Christmas day before opening my presents. Therefore I associated Christmas with waiting --- waiting for the Christmas season so that I could finally get the aircraft kits I had been eyeing the whole year, and waiting for Christmas day itself so that I could finally open the kits and put together the model planes, and re-fight the Battle of Britain, or the War in the Pacific, or whatever World War Two theatre of battle the planes represented.

As I look back on those years, so long ago now, I realise that associating Christmas with waiting was good spiritual training. I often chose my Christmas gift early in the year. The year would pass too slowly. Sometimes it seemed like Christmas would never come. But it did. Waiting for dad and mum to buy me the Christmas presents I wanted taught me both the discipline of waiting and the certainty of receiving.

As we approach another Christmas, I can't help but remember that God took His time to show up. It was only in seminary that I fully appreciated the fact that four hundred years separated the events recorded in the end of the Old Testament and the events described in the beginning of the New. Four hundred years. That's a long time. Christ did come eventually. But God took His time. But taking His time is precisely what He does. As Paul reminds us in Galatians 4: 4-5:

[But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. (NET)]

God takes His time but His time is always the appropriate time. The analogy that comes to mind is the time an unborn child spends in his or her mother's womb. From conception to birth is nine months. Anything more or less can be disastrous. The child should not be early or late. The child should be on time. God is not early or late. God is on time.

That divine timing is different from human timing is something that the apostle Peter brings out.

[Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3: 8-9 NET)]

We need to be utterly clear that "the divine perspective on time is not the same as the human perspective. . . Peter does not relativize time but simply affirms that the criteria for 'rapid' and 'slow' are different for humans and God. . . (Gene L. Green, Jude & 2 Peter, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008, 326.)"

What are you waiting for this Christmas? Healing for yourself or for a loved one? For your grief to begin so that it can begin to end? A fair outcome for the Allah case in Malaysia? (The court will rule soon on whether the government can bar religious groups other than Islam from using the word.) For your business to turn around? For a job? For the salvation of people you care about? For the renewal of your church? For an end to racism and corruption? For an end to the exploitation of the weak? For Jesus to come again? What are you waiting for this Christmas?

Well, we can be sure of a few things: that God knows our needs and the needs of the world. That God will act. And that He will act at the appropriate time in the best possible way. Whatever are the issues that weigh on our hearts this Christmas, let us give them to the Lord, for we know that ". . . God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand, by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5: 6-7 NET)."

The presents are already under the bed. We just have to wait.

==========================================
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Grace@Work Mail 50/09: Christmas Shopping

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:29:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 50/09
December 11th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
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Commentary: Christmas Shopping
By Soo-Inn Tan

Retail therapy: shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition. Often seen in people during periods of depression or transition, it is normally a short-lived habit. Items purchased during periods of retail therapy are sometimes referred to as "comfort buys."
Wikipedia

Ever indulged in retail therapy? If you are rich and sad, you go buy a Lexus. If you are poor and sad you go buy a new Pilot gel pen. (No prize for guessing which group I belong to.) We are not surprised that recent research links buying stuff with lowered self-worth.

[. . . the combination of sadness and self-focus makes people dwell on their short-comings --- on an unconscious level, they feel "devalued," says Cynthia Cryder, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon . . . In response, they have an unconscious desire to acquire things that they hope will increase their self-worth. (Jason Marsh, "Spent," Utne, March-April '09, 76-77.)]

Unfortunately there is no guarantee that retail therapy works. "Whether it actually works --- that is whether spending effectively reduces feelings of sadness --- is still undetermined." (Marsh, "Spent," 77.) Buying stuff as a cure for low self-worth is at best a quick fix, a warm glow that already begins to fade as you walk away from the payment counter. Maybe the warm glow from a Lexus lasts a little longer.

The present economic downturn has made everyone more disciplined shoppers. But a society where more and more of us are lonely means that more and more of us will struggle with feelings of sadness and low self-worth --- and be more prone to retail therapy.

[ . . . our society is in the midst of a dramatic and progressive slide toward disconnection... There is now a clear consensus among medical researchers that social connection has powerful effects on health. Socially connected people live longer, respond better to stress, have more robust immune systems, and do better at fighting a variety of specific illnesses. Health and happiness, the two things we all say matter most, are certifiably linked to social connectedness. (Jacqueline Olds, and Richard S. Schwartz, "The Lonely American," Utne, March-April '09, 49.)]

Retailers should still be bullish in the long run. Still, retail therapy is preferable to substance abuse.

[Substance abuse is a complex phenomenon. It almost certainly does not have a single cause. But the substance abuse of a great many individuals is fueled by their experiences of social rejection and social isolation. The rising rate of depression and the rising numbers of both adults and children who use antidepressant medication are also fueled (again, in part) by experiences of social rejection and social isolation. (Olds and Schwartz, "The Lonely American," 50.)]

If retail therapy does not really meet our deepest needs for self-worth and joy, and if substance abuse destroys us, what then is the answer? Relationships --- our relationship with God and our relationship with others.

God created humankind to have a relationship with Him, a relationship where He wants to bless us. Humankind was created on the sixth day of creation but the seventh day, the first day of humankind's existence, was a Sabbath day, a day set apart for communion between humankind and their Creator. (Genesis 1:26 - 2:3). The Genesis account makes it clear that we were also created to do meaningful work but our first call is the call to relate to our Creator.

That means no amount of stuff, or substance abuse, can fill that part of our hearts that was meant to be filled with His love. God still stands ready to fill us with His love. "For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love (Romans 5:5b NLT)." But we need to make space for Him in our lives to receive His love. Most of us are too busy. And we wonder why our hearts are empty, and why we too are tempted by retail therapy and worse. Followers of Christ should know better. But we don't, at least not in practice.

And even a good relationship with God may not be enough. We also need the nurturing that comes from healthy relationships with others as well, because it is not good for us to be alone. It says so in Genesis 2:18 --- and in the results of the many studies on the destructive results of "social rejection and social isolation." We know we have "self-worth" when we know we are loved --- by God and by people. And when we love others in return. Believe it or not, "when people spend money on others, they feel happier than when they spend it on themselves (Marsh, "Spent," 77). Maybe it is more blessed to give than to receive after all (Acts 20:35). Therefore, Marsh, quoting Ronald Dahl, suggests that:

[Perhaps the best way to address the sadness-spending effect ... is to teach people from a young age, that the path to personal fulfilment lies in generosity and altruism ... "It is basically a new pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions together in the brain ... shifting away from self-focus toward being generous, giving to others . . ." (Marsh, "Spent," 77.]

Sounds a lot like conversion to me.

So how do we have ourselves a "merry little Christmas?" Not by stuffing our own stockings. Try giving to those in need. And making time for God, and for the people we care about.

======================================
Graceworks announcements

Really appreciate the exposure Cannanland Bookstores are giving to our books. Here is their ad for our booklet on Spiritual Friendship.

http://www.canaanland.com.my/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=27333

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Ministering this weekend

December 13th
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"Prepare For His Coming"
(Luke 3: 1-6)
10:00 - 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

======================================
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Grace@Work Mail 49/09: Death of a Life Plan

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:13:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 49/09
December 4th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
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Commentary: Death of a Life Plan
By Soo-Inn Tan

This year our two older sons, Mark and Stephen, graduated from university. One is with us in Singapore, the other in Melbourne. As parents, we rejoice that the two of them have successfully completed a key part of their development and growth. There is just one thing. Neither of them have yet to land permanent jobs, which tells us a number of things. One, there may be no such thing as a permanent job in today's "new" economy. Two, the life plan we inherited from our parents no longer holds true.

Growing up in a Chinese diaspora family in Malaysia, I was repeatedly told that I had to work hard so that I could get good grades. Good grades would ensure that I could get into the right courses in university, which would ensure that we could get the right jobs. Once we had the right jobs, we would be home free. We would have financial security, and with financial security would come a comfortable lifestyle, and the potential of choosing a good mate and raising an ideal family.

Well, this life plan no longer works. Both my boys graduated with good degrees. One has been without permanent employment for almost a year. A large part of this can be blamed on the global economic downturn. Pundits tell us that the turnaround this time will take longer. But even if the downturn had not occurred, the whole notion of job security was beginning to change in the harsher realities of the new economy. Which may not be a bad thing if it helps parents and children alike realise that true security lies only with the Lord.

I understand why folks in my parents generation believed in the old life plan. Firstly, they or their parents had left China to come to a new land to make a better life. (Immigrant communities anywhere in the world will understand this.) Next, they had suffered unimaginable hardship during World War 2. Of course they wanted their children's lives to be more secure than theirs, and like most immigrant communities, they believed that salvation would come from education and hard work. Religion was at best tolerated and the usual warning was, "religion is ok but to ensure your future, you better work hard in school." This was the mantra heard in most homes in those days, including Christian ones.

But if Christ is real, and His teaching is true, the only true source of our security is in a heavenly Father who loves us (Matthew 6:19-33).

[�So don�t worry about these things, saying, �What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."(Matthew 6:31-33 NLT)]

Is this what we teach our children? Do we really believe Jesus?

I am not arguing that it is ok for Christians to be lazy. The parable of the talents condemns the lazy servant (Matthew 25:14-30) in no uncertain terms. And the same parable also gives us the biblical basis for hard work --- we want to be good stewards of the potentialities that God has given each one of us. It is a sin to waste our lives. We should all seek to be all that we can be for the sake of others and for the glory of God. Followers of Jesus are not slackers. It is just that we do not worship hard work as the god who will take care of all our needs.

Our present employment uncertainties may serve as a wake up call to the church in how we do evangelism and discipleship. If the old game plan no longer works and hard work alone is no longer a reliable god, we will have a whole generation of young people growing up looking for hope and purpose. The death of any "god" is a good time to share about the real One. However, our evangelism will only have credibility if we are living out a real and robust hope in God ourselves. We need to ask if we are nurturing the people in our churches and in our families, to become people of real faith in a real God.

We agonise with our two older boys, wishing and hoping that they will get good jobs that will allow them to put into practice what they worked so hard to learn in university. But we know that there are few guarantees in life. Mark and Stephen should know that too that since both of them have already lost one parent to cancer. But what they also should know, and they do, is that there is one guarantee in life they can count on --- the love and care of a sovereign God. And so while Bernice and I are proud that Mark and Stephen have graduated, we are even more proud that they trust in God and continue to live the adventure of their lives with faith.

=========================
Graceworks announcements

500 e-commentaries!!

My good friend Alvin, who manages the Grace@Work website, the one that archives the weekly ecommentaries, tells me that the last ecommentary, "Forever Young," was the 500th one that he has posted. It is hard to believe that there have been 500 ecommentaries! Praise God! We hope they have been a blessing to you.

While the ecommentaries continue to be sent out free, we really do need your support. And so we hope that you will consider sending us a donation to help support this part of our ministry.

1. You can pay with a credit card. Just click on the PayPal button on the Grace@Work website(www.graceatwork.org).

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Ministering this weekend

December 6th
All Saint's Church (English Congregation)
Sunday Morning Worship
"Prepare the Way for the Lord"
Luke 3:1-6
9.00 am
600 Upper Changi Road,
Singapore 487012

======================================
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Grace@Work Mail 48/09: Forever Young

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:14:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 48/09
November 27th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
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May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
And may you stay forever young . . .
(Forever Young, Bob Dylan)

Commentary: Forever Young
By Soo-Inn Tan

Learnt a new word recently: "neoteny." Here is the dictionary definition: "the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult" (Webster's New World College Dictionary). But I first encountered the word in Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas's study on leaders. In their study on leaders older than seventy ("geezers"), and those younger than thirty-two ("geeks"), they discovered that:

[. . . every one of our geezers who continues to play a leadership role has one quality of overriding importance:neoteny. The dictionary defines neoteny, a zoological term, as the "retention of youthful qualities by adults." Neoteny is more than retaining a youthful appearance, although that is often part of it. Neoteny is the retention of all those youthful qualities that we associate with youth: curiosity, playfulness, eagerness, fearlessness, warmth, energy. Unlike those defeated by time and age, our geezers have remained much like our geeks --- open, willing to take risks, hungry for knowledge and experience, courageous, eager to see what the new day brings. (Leading For A Lifetime, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2007, 20)]

We all grow older but it appears that we can choose how we grow older. As Pastor Chuah Tong Ik reminds us:

[. . . I've come to realise that successful aging is linked to the spirit of wanting to learn and grow. In whatever season of life we may be in (whether the young-old or old-old stage), we will not only thrive but will do well as long as we still hunger to learn more. (Help! I'm Growing Old, Singapore: Graceworks, 2009, 126.)]

Growing older is something that creeps up on you. Often, I would address someone as "uncle," a term that we use to address a man senior to us, only to realise that the person I am addressing is my age or younger. I am not sure how many people I have offended. Truth is you don't feel that you are getting older but you are. Next year, I will be fifty-five, young perhaps by today's standards, but people retired at that age in my parents' generation.

Recently, I have been getting invitations to speak to groups of people in their late forties and beyond, with instructions to share wisdom as to how people can live lives to the full at middle age. I am not sure how much wisdom I have to share. I just observe that this is the first year that I have received invitations to minister specifically to folks in middle age. I am growing older.

Bennis and Thomas, and Chuah, challenge us to grow older with a young heart. A biblical model for this endeavour is Caleb. At age eight-five, he makes this request to his friend, Joshua:

[The men of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, �You know what the Lord said about you and me to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses, the Lord�s servant, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy on the land and I brought back to him an honest report. My countrymen who accompanied me frightened the people, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. That day Moses made this solemn promise: �Surely the land on which you walked will belong to you and your descendants permanently, for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.'

So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old. Today I am still as strong as when Moses sent me out. I can fight and go about my daily activities with the same energy I had then. Now, assign me this hill country which the Lord promised me at that time! (Joshua 14:6-12a, NET Bible)]

David M. Howard, Jr. notes the "neotenical spirit" of Caleb:

[Despite the fact that (Caleb) was now eighty-five years old . . . he still claimed physical vigor and a readiness and willingness to do battle. His words were insistent and animated, revealing the vigor and eagerness of a man far younger. (Joshua, Nashville, TN:Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998, 329.)]

Indeed, the book of Joshua portrays Caleb as a model of one who presses on to receive all that God wants to give. He surely qualifies as a "geezer" who possesses the quality of neoteny. We note however, that Caleb's neoteny is not just an expression of a youthful spirit. His vigour at eighty-five is the product of a lifetime of loyalty to God. "Blessing came forth because Caleb totally followed Yahweh. This complete loyalty to Yahweh established Caleb as the perfect example of those who received the land from Yahweh. (Trent C. Butler, Joshua, Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983, 175.)"

Here then is the true secret of living life to the full at middle age or at any other age: a life centred on God. It is our faith in Yahweh that allows us to receive the life we need to be truly alive, truly hungry to move on in the adventure of life. Indeed, it may even be fair to say that, for followers of Jesus, our bodies age but our spirits get "younger." As Paul puts it, " . . . even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4: 16b NET).

I think it was the actress Bette Davies who said "growing old is not for wimps." (I believe the original quote was "growing old is not for sissies.") Looking at what some of my older friends are going through, I can well believe her. Yet I am also challenged and encouraged by the many older friends I know who are still living life to the full. Pastor Tong Ik talks about one such person:

[Just last month, I visited a friend in a nursing home. Though confined to a wheel chair, he is cheerful and definitely not quitting on life yet. . . . he is still reading and learning. He is self reliant... His indomitable, resilient spirit reveals that as long as he has life, he will live it. (Help! I Am Growing Old, 127).]

We do not know how long we will live, or how we will be in the later chapters of our life. But as long as we have life, we will live it to the full for Christ and for others, "from one degree of glory to another. . . "(2 Corinthians 3:18b NET), until we see Christ face to face. Bring on the hill country!

==================================
Graceworks Announcements

1. Friends in Penang can get Graceworks publications from:

Precious Pages,
56, Lorong Selamat,
10400 Penang
Tel/Fax: 6 04 229 7678

2. Preliminary announcement: Seminar on Spiritual Mentoring.
We are planning to hold a seminar on Spiritual Mentoring in the Klang Valley with our friends from Canaanland.
Date: Saturday, March 13th, 2010.
Time: 10.30 am - 3.00 pm
Venue: No. 25 Pusat Dagangan NZX, Jalan PJU 1A/41B, Ara Jaya, 47301� Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +603-7885 0540/1/2

More details later. But book that date.

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

Saturday, November 28th
Grace(S.C.C.) Church
Seminar on Spiritual Mentoring
2-4 pm
14, Queen Street,
Singapore 188536

============================
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Grace@Work Mail 47/09: Crucibles

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:09:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 47/09
November 20th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
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Commentary: Crucibles
By Soo-Inn Tan

When you encounter the same idea two days in a row, from different sources, you take notice. On Wednesday (November 18th) I was reading Leading For A Lifetime, by Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2007). In their extensive study of leaders, they conclude that:

[Each of our subjects . . . had undergone a heroic struggle of some sort, had overcome a series of unique obstacles, in the course of becoming a leader. In trying to find the right term for the events and experiences that tested and shaped our leaders' characters and ultimately changed their lives, we decided on the term crucibles, the vessels in which medieval alchemists attempted to transform ordinary materials into precious ones . . . The crucibles that forged our leaders were often history-making, global experiences --- World War II, in the case of our many of our older leaders. Other crucibles were powerful but profoundly personal events --- a life-threatening illness, a sudden change in one's personal fortune, or in the case of Mike Wallace, the tragic accidental death of his son. (ix-x)]

Yesterday, as I prepared for our Care Group meeting (we are working through Scot McKnight's The Jesus Creed, Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2004), I read the following:

[Every vocation is tested by God. If the general vocation of all Christians is the Jesus Creed, then our love for God and love for others will be tested. Jesus' own vocation of loving God was tested severely. . . . before Jesus crosses the Jordan and enters into the land to offer the kingdom to his people, the Spirit of God drives him into the wilderness to test his vocation. . . . When we think "vocation from God," we need also to think "test by God." (248)]

Bennis and Thomas, and McKnight, tell us that in life we will go through hardship but these hardships will test and shape us.

In our church, we have just concluded a series of bible expositions on the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. Joseph went through a series of experiences that would have broken most of us, including: sold into slavery by his own brothers, framed by a "desperate housewife" and thrown into prison for doing the right thing, and forgotten by people who promised to help get him out of prison.

In the end, however, he rose to the second most powerful position in the superpower of the day and was instrumental in saving God's covenant people (his family), the people of Egypt, and many people in the surrounding regions. He survived his tests, purified by God's crucibles, to become the leader he was meant to be. Through it all, he understood that God was shaping him for his life's work. In his own words:

[Then he said, "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life! For these past two years there has been famine in the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45: 4b-8 NET)]

This is how Bennis and Thomas puts it:

[ . . . all our (leaders) saw their crucibles, however punishing, as positive experiences, even as the high points of their lives. . . . they not only survived their struggles, they were inspired and strengthened by them. . . . the extraction of wisdom from the crucible experience is what distinguishes our successful leaders from those who are broken and burnt out by comparable experiences. In every instance, our leaders carried the gold of meaning away from their crucibles.(Leading For A Lifetime, 94.)]

The apostle Paul was no wimp yet in 2 Corinthians 12, he refers to a painful experience he went through, an experience so bad that three times, he asked the Lord to take it away. But the Lord did not. This is what Paul learnt from that crucible:

[Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me - so that I would not become arrogant. I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. But he said to me, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12: 7b-10 NET)]

I don't think we are supposed to go looking for trouble so that we can learn. But sooner or later, living in a fallen world, we will encounter crucible experiences. Bennis and Thomas "discover" a truth that was in Scripture all along, that a gracious God uses the painful experiences in our lives to test and shape us.

Looking back on my life from the perspective of middle age, I heartily agree. I wish I could turn back the clock and do many things differently. I guess there was little I could do to prevent the death of my first wife from cancer. But I should have been much wiser in how I managed my life after her death. If I had been wiser I may not have made the choices that led to the break up of my second marriage and all the horrible pain that came as a result of that. But I can't. I can't turn back the clock. What I can do, what I have tried to do, is to learn from my life, to search for the nuggets in my crucibles.

There are some things however, that Bennis and Thomas either do not know or cannot mention in a "non-religious" book. One, that as a child of God, the Spirit of the Jesus who triumphed through His crucibles, indwells and empowers me for my crucibles. The other truth is this, that in the community of believers, the Lord has provided us with Barnabases, encouragers who walk with us and help us process our lives from a divine perspective. I am grateful for the Barnabases who walked with me. I now try to pass it forward by being a Barnabas to my friends in their crucible moments.

Followers of Jesus are not Pollyanas who try to minimise the crippling horror of the things some of us have to go through. But we are followers of a God who brought life out of the Cross, and who is able to do the same gracious alchemy for us in our most painful moments, if we allow Him.

=======================================
Graceworks Announcements

1. Book Launch in Penang!

Help! I Am Growing Old:Tips On Embracing Your Senior Years, by Pastor Chuah Tong Ik, will be launched this Sunday in Penang. Graceworks is privileged to work with our dear friend in publishing a book with crucial wisdom as we face our senior years and as we minister to the seniors in our lives.

Date: Sunday, 22nd November, 2009.
Time: 5 pm
Venue: MPH, 3rd Floor Gurney Plaza

Come celebrate with us! Pass the word along!

2. Giving and paying in Malaysian ringgit.

To our supporters and those who use our ministry who are based in Malaysia, we are glad to announce that we can now receive donations/payments in ringgit. Graceworks Private limited has just set up an account in a Malaysian bank.

Make cheques/drafts out to:

GRACEWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

and send them to:

GRACEWORKS,
Ghim Moh Estate Post Office,
PO Box 161
Singapore 912736

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

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Grace@Work Mail 46/09: Remember To Always Think Twice

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:23:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 46/09
November 13th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Remember To Always Think Twice
By Soo-Inn Tan

I watched the Michael Jackson memorial service on TV. I half expected him to burst out of his casket. I imagined the casket cover opening, and a sequinned gloved hand rising up, accompanied by the intro to "Thriller." But it was not to be. MJ did not rise from the dead. He was no messiah though there were times when he seemed to portray himself as one.

Remember the "Earth Song" video? Here was MJ undoing the effects of sin on the created order. In "They Don't Really Care About Us" he declares "Beat me, hate me, You can never break me, Will me, thrill me, You can never kill me." In "This Is It," he is "the light of the world." But MJ's light no longer shines. He was only human. But he was the consummate entertainer.

I saw him live when he performed in Kuala Lumpur on his HIStory tour (1996). I was blown away. Here was a master of image and sound. He provided many of the songs in our personal sound tracks. When we went to watch This Is It, Bernice (beloved wife) pointed out that my right leg was moving so strongly during the "Billie Jean" sequence, it was causing the surrounding chairs to vibrate. "I'll Be There," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Thriller," "Heal the World," well, we all have our personal lists of MJ's number ones. (I can even do an acceptable moon walk.) He was special. Here is Roger Ebert in his review of This Is It:

["This Is it," Michael Jackson told his fans in London, announcing his forthcoming concert tour. "This is the final curtain call." The curtain fell sooner than expected. What is left is this extraordinary documentary, nothing at all like what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else. (Rogerebert.com, October 27, 2009.)]

In This Is It, MJ's voice and moves are still breath taking, but at 50, he is no longer the angelic voiced whirling dervish of the videos where we first heard/saw him. Still, if the show had gone ahead, it would have been spectacular entertainment, though one wonders how MJ would have found the energy to do fifty shows.

[No question that Jackson, deeply in debt to Sony (distributor of his CDs and this movie) and other creditors, needed the money the concerts would generate. But his heroic effort suggests that this was no take-the-money-and-run greatest hits scam. He saw This Is It as a career retrospective that would re-establish the value of his music and prove he still had the strength and the moves of 20, 30, 40 years ago. (Richard Corliss, "He's Still a Thriller," TIME Asia, November 9, 2009, 46.)]

In all the hoopla surrounding his death, and the buzz from This Is It, it is easy to forget Jackson's eccentricities, his "bizarre resculpting of his features; his litigious shenanigans with young boys; his obsession with being an eternal preadolescent, a petrified Peter Pan . . . (Corlisss, 45). Here was a tortured soul, someone who needed saving --- like the rest of us.

In his article on "Entertainment," in The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity, Quentin Schultze reminds us that people "seek entertainment as a means of relieving boredom, as a diversion from the hardships and difficulties of everyday life . . ." (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997, 342). Entertainment is part of God's general providence. But in the same article, Schultze also warns:

[. . . Christians are called to be on guard against the false prophets of every age, even as those prophets are represented in the seemingly benign forms of entertainment (2 Pet 2:1). Popular art is never culturally neutral but is instead an expression of values and beliefs usually forged by audience-minded entrepreneurs. Our task is not to enjoy this entertainment uncritically, but to help ourselves, our children and our community see it for what it really is. Then we may truly celebrate the best and the most entertaining of the lot. (Schultze, 345).]

MJ gave us some of our best songs and videos. We are grateful. And with songs like "Heal The World," he helped articulate our need for healing with a plaintive voice that breaks your heart. But in the end, MJ was only human.

But they told me
A man should be faithful
And walk when not able
And fight till the end
But I'm only human
(Will You Be There)

He too needed the light of life. Michael Jackson provided us with exceptional entertainment. But salvation is to be found in another Singer and another Song.

[Then Jesus spoke out again, "I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12 NET)]

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

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

November 15th
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"Cultivating Your Gifts" (Mt 25:14–30)
10:00 – 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

=====================================
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Grace@Work Mail 45/09: More Substantial

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:13:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 45/09
November 6th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: More Substantial
By Soo-Inn Tan

What happens after death? Nothing, according to some. Death is the
universal anticlimax to life. So we should "seize the day" or "let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die (1 Corinthians 15:32 NRSV)." Then there are
those who, like the ancient Greeks, saw death as "the release of the
immortal soul from its mortal bodily tomb . . ." (Linda L. Belleville, 2
Corinthians, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996, 130). For them
life after death was disembodied and that was the preferred state.

Modern popular culture however, ranging from the X-Files to Cantonese
ghost story movies from Hong Kong, often portrays life after death as an
existence less substantial than life before death and therefore portray the
spirits of the dead as jealous of those still alive. What is a Christian view
of what happens after death?

Last Friday (October 30th) Bernice and I had the privilege of spending
some time with Beverly, a dear friend. She was in pain and distress, in
what appeared to be the tail end of a courageous and faith-filled fight
against cancer. I wondered what passage of Scripture I should read to
strengthen her faith. Listening to her groans, 2 Corinthians 5: 1-10 came
to mind.

[For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly
dwelling� if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found
naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden,
because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for
this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at
home in the body we are away from the Lord� for we walk by faith, not by
sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the
body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we
make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the
judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what
has been done in the body, whether good or evil. (NRSV)]

I wondered if the passage was too negative but in the end I read it. There
are times when we have to face life and death head on. Friday evening
was one of those times. Beverly passed on on Tuesday, November 3rd,
2009. I had the privilege of sharing the word on the first wake, held on the
evening of November 4th.

I spoke from the same 2 Corinthians passage. I shared that for Christians,
at death, we trade in our present perishable body for our eternal
resurrection body. Paul seems to hint at an intermediate stage between
the trading in of our old body and the time when we receive our new body
but how does one actually experience time in the life to come is
something that we cannot comprehend. What we can be absolutely sure of
is this: what awaits us is not some disembodied life but a resurrection
body.

Paul refers to our present body as a tent.

[Paul likens the process of physical decay and death to the dismantling of
a tent-dwelling . . . As something that can be easily swept away by storm,
wind, or some accident of nature, the comparison of the body to a tent is
a particularly apt one .... (Belleville, 2 Corinthians, 132)]

In contrast, Paul refers to our resurrection body as a heavenly house.

[God's intention for the believer is bodily existence, not disembodiment as
some would claim. More specifically, those who face physical hardship and
suffering . . . are assured that, come what may, a house of God's own
deigning . . . awaits them. This house is distinguished in three ways. It is
of heavenly versus earthly origin (in heaven). It is permanent (eternal) as
opposed to a temporary structure. And it is assembled by God rather than
by human hands (not built by human hands). (Belleville, 2 Corinthians,
133).]

Indeed, in a previous letter to the Corinthians, Paul had already taught
that our present bodies are unable to inherit all the blessings that God
wants to give us (1 Corinthians 15:50). Not only does the surrendering of
our present body result in our inheriting our resurrection body, this body
"trade in" has to take place for us to be able to receive all the treasures
that God has in store for His children.

One of those treasures is the privilege of relating to Christ face to face, in
perfect communion. Christians are folks with two homes. There is the
home of our present life. Then there is the home where we have face to
face communion with our Lord. We cannot be in our two homes at the
same time. I am now based in Singapore and I call both Singapore and
Kuala Lumpur home. But I cannot be in KL and Singapore at the same
time. I have to leave one to be in the other. We have to leave our present
life to go to our eternal home.

[. . . Paul speaks of �in the body' and �with the Lord' as two different
homes in diverse locations. He cannot be in both places at the same time.
And his preference is to be at home with the Lord (v.8). But for this to
happen he must be away from the hometown of his mortal body
(Belleville, 2 Corinthians, 139).]

If our loved ones had a tough time dying, we tend to remember them as
the emaciated bodies they had before their death, often with great
sadness. We must make a deliberate effort to remember them in "real
time", where they are now. We must remember that, for the Christian, life
after death is much more substantial than life this side of heaven. The
bible is clear on this point. Many of us are not.

When we try to console ourselves and others that our dearly departed
have gone on to "a better place" it often sounds wimpy and unsubstantial.
For Bev, death was no anticlimax to a life well lived. It was the beginning
of a glorious, eternal crescendo! This will also be true for all of us who are
followers of Jesus. And so whatever we go through in this life, we live our
lives with confidence, we live our lives "making it our aim to please Him"
because we are utterly clear as to what happens next.

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

Where to buy Graceworks Publications?

In the Klang Valley, Malaysia, you could try Glad Sounds and Canaanland.
Help get the word out!

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

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

Ministering this weekend

November 8
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
"Life as a Trust" (Mt 22:15�22)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

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

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

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Grace@Work Mail 44/09:The Truth, With Feet On

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:06:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 44/09
October 30th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: The Truth, With Feet On
By Bernice Lee

Yesterday (Saturday, October 3st), we were ministering at the Young
Adult Evening Service of one of the "megachurches" in Kuala Lumpur. My
dear husband was there to speak to a group of Millenials (those born
between 1984 and 2000) about How To Do Youth Ministry in the 3rd
Millenium. Many of these young adults were people we'd made the
acquaintance of a few years ago at a youth camp and it was
heartwarming to renew our ties again.

Hubby wove his story-telling magic as he narrated the four trends
affecting youth ministry now that were observed by Jimmy Long in his
book Emerging Hope (2nd edition, Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
2004).

1. The shift from believing in an objective/absolute truth, to the post-
9/11 we-all-play-nice belief that truth is subjective, depending on
what your faith tradition is (or isn't).
2. The shift from a baby-boomer focus on individual achievement and
success, to a deep longing by a "fatherless" generation for a
community to belong to.
3. The shift from a more word-based receiving of information/content,
to a more image-based visual communication style. It's a case of
eyes over ears. We have two of each, but the eyes are in front, so
go figure�.
4. The shift from having a metanarrative (that charts societal
progress) to living a life of micronarratives (filled with societal
cynicism).

On first pass, I thought there was an inherent contradiction between shifts
#2 and #4. One talks about needing community, while the other says
millenials live only for themselves, for the moment. As I listened on and
thought a bit more, I realized that, ironically, a post-war generation that
belonged to extended families, where there were more mouths to feed,
fostered greater individual determination to succeed and shine. Millenials,
however, growing up in highly consumeristic societies and coming from
smaller nuclear families have many of their material needs met and so
tend to focus on themselves and their wants. Okay, this last statement is
a huge over-generalisation, but don't shoot me, I'm just the piano player.

What really struck me as I listened to da man was the fact that many,
both young and old, don't have a metanarrative in their lives. If truth is
subjective, what is there to hold on to as an anchor (sorry for the mixed
metaphors, but I think you get my drift) when life buffets us? This
morning, after the Sunday worship service at a dear friend's church, we
were roped in as interviewees for a video project on "Hope" � what it is,
and what we hope for. That brought to mind, again, the overarching
metanarrative that we have inherited as children of God. From Genesis to
Revelation, God has given us His BIG picture � one of deep love,
redemptive grace and mercy, and hope of the best that is yet to come.

When we are able to plug our micronarratives into His all-encompassing
Master plan, we find purpose, meaning and strength to see us through
this journey called life. Last Thursday night I sat dumbstruck as I listened
to a benign-looking, soft-spoken, humble professor of dentistry share
about the startling turnaround in his life when he plugged his story into
God's story. As a young, highly-competent dentist, he made a good
(sorry, make that great!) living. As his reputation grew, so did his coffers,
and he enjoyed the best things in life, complete with fur coat, sail boat
and permed hair! It literally was a life of wine, women and song. With a
shy, wry grin, and almost sotto voce, he told us he once went by the
moniker "Disco Bob". But this mindless pursuit of a hedonistic lifestyle
took its toll and he soon descended into debt. His wife left him and he
found his life spiraling into a meaningless cycle of work and more work to
pay off his debtors.

God had a different plan for his life, though, and through the love of a
godly woman, he found his way back to faith. Before long, as he applied
God's values in his workplace, he found, to his surprise, that he was
working less and yet earning more. All this because, "I used to see each
patient as �income', but now I began to see each of them as a person
needing care". His growing understanding of Scripture and his new sense
of calling saw him turning his heart to the mission field. It nearly broke his
mother's heart when he told her that he was planning to go to Nepal with
his wife and young family. Having been a part of the Chinese diaspora
that had left for North America in search of the good life, she could not
understand why he would want to turn his back on all that she had
worked so hard to help him achieve, and return to a world of poverty and
uncertainty. But his years in Nepal turned out to be ones rich in blessing
and purpose and he was proud to be able to taste for himself the reality of
Isaiah 52:7 (TNIV):

[How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good
news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim
salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"]
This professor's micronarrative could have gone very woefully wrong, but
when he plugged into God's metanarrative, he found himself able to walk
his journey with a spring in his step rather than having to constantly look
over his shoulder in fear. And the bonus is he has had the privilege of
partnering God in His loving and healing purposes in the lives of the
Nepali people.

He gave feet to the Truth. Now, I've got some walking to do.

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

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======================================
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If the ecommentaries have been helpful please consider donating to
the work. How?

1. Pay by Cheque/Drafts:

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PO Box 161
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with any major credit card.

If you have difficulties with the above two payment options do let
us know. (Malaysian supporters can transfer money to a Malaysian
bank account. Please ask me for details.)

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

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Grace@Work Mail 43/09: Leadership Teams are Norm

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:30:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 43/09
October 23rd, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

Commentary: Leadership Teams are Norm
By Soo-Inn Tan

I have long come to realise that team leadership is norm. Perhaps, when I was younger, I held to the individualistic, heroic, bigger than life model of leadership (and maybe believed I was on the road to being one.) But life, and the Word, have taught me that the norm for leadership is not multi-gifted leaders but multi-gifted leadership teams. Here is an excerpt from a booklet on leadership that I hope to publish soon. It is based on the leadership of Nehemiah.

"The reconstruction of Jerusalem needed the rebuilding of the wall. It also needed a fresh recommitment to the Law. For this the people needed Ezra, the priest and scribe (Nehemiah 8). Ezra and Nehemiah were two leaders who played key roles in the reconstruction of post-exilic Israel. Nehemiah was willing to work with other key leaders in the mission to rebuild Israel. Earlier he had worked with the local leaders in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:16-18). Nehemiah understood that a true leader must be committed to team leadership. No one can go it alone."

I was pleased to discover a study that expands on this point. I have just finished teaching a course on leadership at the Biblical Graduate School of Theology. In the course of my readings for the course, I came across Tom Rath & Barry Conchie, Strengths Based Leadership, New York, NY: Gallup Press, 2008. This is what they wrote:

[As we worked with . . . leadership teams, we began to see that while each member had his or her own unique strengths, the most cohesive and successful teams possessed broader groupings of strengths. So we went back and initiated our most through review of this research to date. From this dataset, four distinct domains of leadership strength emerged: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking . . .

We found that it serves a team well to have a representation of strengths in each of these four domains, Instead of one dominant leader who tries to do everything or individuals who all have similar strengths, contributions from all four domains lead to a strong and cohesive team. Although individuals need not be well-rounded, teams should be. (Strengths Based Leadership, 22-23)]

This is how Rath and Conchie describe the four "domains" of leadership:

a. Executing: know how to make things happen. When you need someone to implement a solution, these are the people who will work tirelessly to get it done.

b. Influencing: help their team reach a much broader audience. People with strength in this domain are always selling the team's ideas inside and outside the organization.

c. Relationship Building: the essential glue that holds the team together. Without these strengths on a team, in many cases, the group is simply a composite of individuals.

d. Strategic Thinking: the ones who keep us all focused on what could be. They are constantly absorbing and analysing information and helping the team make better decisions.

(Strengths Based Leadership, 24 - 26)

Rath and Conchie's work makes sense. Not only is it based on extensive empirical research, it is true to Scripture. Unfortunately I still see many in the church and in the marketplace still thinking along the lines of the single dominant "strong" leader.
I knew a church who had a lead pastor who was strong in preaching and formulating vision (Influencing and Strategic Thinking?) but who had no obvious strengths in management and pastoral care (Executing and Relationship Building?). The people appreciated the strengths he brought to the church but he was constantly criticised for his weaknesses. In the end, an associate was brought into the pastoral team who had strengths in management and pastoral care.

After some time, the first pastor moved on to another ministry, and the associate called in to help him, moved into the position of lead pastor. In a short while, the new lead pastor was heavily criticised for his "weak" preaching and a leadership style that was deemed not strong enough. He kept reminding people that his strengths were in management and pastoral care and that that was why he was brought in. He said the people should be working on adding others to the pastoral team and/or mobilising suitable lay leaders to complement him. But many were not sympathetic.

I have seen the above scenario replayed many times in many churches and ministry organizations. Many leaders in such scenarios feel unappreciated for who they are and are deeply discouraged. Meanwhile, the churches and para-church groups keep waiting for the "perfect," meaning "multi gifted leader," who never seems to appear. I am not sure what the situation is like in the marketplace and in civil service. I am guessing that different organizations will function with different levels of appreciation for the need to build "well-rounded teams."

One application of this approach to leadership is for all of us to have some idea of our strengths and to intentionally find others with complementing strengths, to complete our teams. In the church context, I am not suggesting that we have pastoral teams of at least four full-time pastors who each have one of the different strength domains. But the leadership team of the church, with whatever combination of pastors and lay leaders, must have people contributing in all the four areas.

I took the StrengthsFinder test offered by Rath and Conchie. I thought my primary strengths would be in the area of Influencing. I was surprised to find that I had equal strengths in Influencing and in Strategic Thinking and even a little in Relationship Building. But it will come as no surprise to those who know me that I had nothing in the area of Executing, just one of the many, many reasons I rejoice that I have Bernice as my life partner!

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

Book Launch and buying Graceworks books

We want to thank all those who came to the launch of our book, Thinking On The Run. We were also pleasantly surprised to see that our partners in the States, Harvest Logos Bookstore in Seattle, have also put the book up on Amazon.com. (http://tinyurl.com/yhpcjht )

If you want to purchase any of our books you could also check out our website store (http://tinyurl.com/yl7vto7). If you are living in Singapore and Malaysia, we encourage you to support our retailers. Write us for the ones nearest to you.

But buy our books! Help get the word out! (Christmas is just round the corner.)

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

Your say!

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1. Go to the graceworks website at: www.graceworks.com.sg.
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4. Comments should abide by the Ephesians 4:15 principle: speak the
truth in love to edify.

Or

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or start a discussion.

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

Ministering this weekend

October 24 Mt Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church
Young Adults Meeting
�Hurry UP�Slow DOWN�
7:00 � 9:00 pm
Clementi Bible Centre
152 West Coast Road
Singapore 127370

October 25
Evangel Christian Church
Sunday Morning Worship
�Promise Beyond the Grave� (Gen 49:29 � 50:26)
(How to Prepare for Death)
10:00 � 11:30 am
211, Henderson Road, #04-02
Singapore 159552

======================================
Donating to Graceworks

If the ecommentaries have been helpful please consider donating to
the work. How?

1. Pay by Cheque/Drafts:

Make cheques/drafts out to:

GRACEWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

and send them to:

GRACEWORKS,
Ghim Moh Estate Post Office,
PO Box 161
Singapore 912736

NB. All cheques and drafts banked in Singapore must be in
Singapore currency.

2. Pay by Credit Card: Visit www.graceatwork.org to pay via PayPal
with any major credit card.

If you have difficulties with the above two payment options do let
us know. (Malaysian supporters can transfer money to a Malaysian
bank account. Please ask me for details.)

Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

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

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Grace@Work Mail 42/09: Making A Fool Of Myself

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:31:00 GMT

GRACE@WORK MAIL 42/09
October 16th, 2009 Edition.
This ecommentary is sent out free but your donations help this ministry in
its commitment to bring truth to life. Details below.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg)

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

Invitation:

Please join me at the official Singapore launch of Thinking On The Run, my third collection of essays.

Date: Saturday, 17th October, 2009.
Time: 10 am - 11.30 am.
Venue: Bartley Christian Centre, 4 How Sun Drive, Singapore 538526.
For a map to the church, see http://www.bartley.org.sg/image/BCClocationmap.jpg

Please join us on this joyous occasion. But do remember to register if you are planning to come. Just send an email to info@crusademedia.com.sg and let them know you are coming. (Registration is free.)
Our partners, Crusademedia, is launching two other products at this launch and have graciously invited us to be part of it.

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

Commentary: Making A Fool Of Myself
By Soo-Inn Tan

Writing has never come easy for me. I prefer to preach or teach any time. When I stand before a group of people and preach or teach, I see some results of my work straight away. Your listeners may love you or they may hate you but you have a pretty good idea from their responses, even if it is just their body language. But writing is a lonely vocation. When I write I do not have the privilege of knowing how a reader would respond to what I am writing, at the moment when I writing it. Deprived of the immediacy of real time response, I struggle to write.

I find some comfort in the fact that I have yet to find a published author who finds writing easy. Anne Lamott has this to say about the discipline of writing:

[You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on your computer and bring up the right file, and then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again. Then, with your fingers poised on the keyboard, you squint at an image that is forming in your mind . . . and you try to quiet your mind so that you can hear what that landscape or character has to say above the other voices in your mind. (Bird By Bird, New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1994, 6-7)]

But writing has also been hard for me because every time I write I give out a piece of my life. My main commitment to writing has been this column that you are reading. I have been writing this weekly column and sending it out via email for close to a decade now. Five hundred essays. Five hundred times I have made a fool of myself.

[It is Red Smith who is reported to have said that it is really very easy to be a writer---all you have to do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein. . . Vein-opening writers are putting not just themselves into their books, but themselves at their nakedest and most vulnerable. They are putting their pain and their passion into their books . . . Not all writers do it all the time---even the blood bank recognizes we have only so much blood to give --- and many good writers never do it at all either because for one reason or another they don't choose to or they don't quite know how to; it takes a certain kind of unguardedness, for one thing, a willingness to run risks, including the risk of making a fool of yourself. (Frederick Buechner, Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought To Say, San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001, ix - x.)]

No wonder I feel exhausted after writing my weekly column. I collapse every time I hit the send button. I have just donated blood. I have just sent out a piece of my life.

I am amazed that I have been doing this for ten years. I am not a patient person. (This who know me may consider the previous statement an understatement.) To commit myself to a weekly discipline for as long as this deserves some explanation. I know this will sound terribly narcissistic and probably breaks any number of rules on writing but when I write my weekly column, I write, first and foremost, for myself.

The title of my first collection of essays is Making Sense. When I write I am trying to make sense of my life. My graduate school for writing was a very difficult period of my life when I lost one wife to cancer, another through divorce, and journeyed for a time through the valley of clinical depression. I had to write. I needed to see some meaning in the stories of my life. And I thought that if I wrote out my stories I could somehow graft them into God's story and find redemption.

This is an act of faith of course, faith that there is a Divine author, One who will take your stories and put them into His narrative, a narrative with meaning. And a happy ending. When I write about my life I choose to believe that "Deep within history, as it gets itself written down in history books and newspapers, in the letters we write and the dairies we keep, is sacred history, is God's purposes working itself out in the apparent purposelessness of human history and of our separate histories ..." (Buechner, The Sacred Journey, San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1982, 4-5).

You can appreciate why Romans 8:28 is one of the foundational verses of my life: "And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose ... "(NET). Many a time it kept me sane when despair came calling. Romans 8:28 ran interference for me so that I could keep on living. And keep on writing.

We estimate that about 30,000 people read the column weekly. I just wish more people would tell me why. In the meantime I take comfort in what James M. Houston wrote in the foreword to Travel Mercies, my second collection of essays:

[ . . . when we speak from our lives personally, we share far more than we realise would ever be appreciated by others. Indeed, when I apologize "this is most intimately Me", it turns out to be "most universally You!" (Soo-Inn, Travel Mercies, Singapore: Graceworks Pte Ltd, 2005, viii.)]

Now excuse me. I need to go lie down for a while.

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

Your say!

Want to respond to this ecommentary?

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

Or

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or start a discussion.

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

Donating to Graceworks

If the ecommentaries have been helpful please consider donating to
the work. How?

1. Pay by Cheque/Drafts:

Make cheques/drafts out to:

GRACEWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED

and send them to:

GRACEWORKS,
Ghim Moh Estate Post Office,
PO Box 161
Singapore 912736

NB. All cheques and drafts banked in Singapore must be in
Singapore currency.

2. Pay by Credit Card: Visit www.graceatwork.org to pay via PayPal
with any major credit card.

If you have difficulties with the above two payment options do let
us know. (Malaysian supporters can transfer money to a Malaysian
bank account. Please ask me for details.)

Write us at: enquiries@graceworks.com.sg

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

Ecommentaries are archived at www.graceatwork.org
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