Is not My Grace enough?

It is often at times when one is so overcome with activities and projects that one feels he does not even have the strength to go on. When the future looks so bleak or uncertain and it does not even seem possible that one would be able to provide for himself, much less a spouse or his parents.

It was at a time such as this that I found myself in this week. Granted that a large part of it is due to fact that I can't seem to discipline my time properly, I felt so overwhelmed by the stuff I had to do for Uni and worrying, as I always do, about the future.

And as I was jogging today (I truly was!), it was as though God suddenly pointed out, "Is My Grace not enough?" Immediately it was like flashes of my past came flying past my mind's eye. The times when I struggled during BMT both physically and spiritually. The time when I passed the 2.4km run for the first time and fell to my knees thanking Him upon crossing the finishing line (the Sergeant thought I was going to faint or something). The terrible morning and evening runs in OCS. The 16 weeks I took to pass IPPT in AFS. The time when I so nearly gave up on my faith because I had felt so completely cut off from God. And yet looking back at it all from where I am now, seeing the path that the Lord had laid for and guided me on by His Providence, how can I deny that the Lord is good.

I am under no illusion that the path ahead would be any less rugged and hard than the one behind me, but indeed my soul finds rest in God alone and the work that He begins, He will finish it. What will happen in the future? O Lord God, you know.

May He receive all the Praise He deserves.


My soul finds rest - Psalms 62 by Stuart Townsend

My soul finds rest in God alone,
My Rock and my Salvation.
A fortress strong against my foes,
And I will not be shaken.
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse,
And lies like arrows pierce me,
I'll fix my heart on righteousness,
I'll look to Him who hears me.

Chorus:
Oh praise Him, Hallelujah
My Delight and my Reward,
Everlasting, never failing,
My Redeemer, my God.

Find rest my soul in God alone,
Amidst the world's temptations.
When evil seeks to take a hold,
I'll cling to my salvation.
Though riches come and riches go,
Don't set you heart upon them.
The fields of hope in which I sow,
Are harvested in heaven.

I'll set my gaze on God alone,
And trust in Him completely.
With every day pour out my soul,
And He will prove His mercy.
Though life is but a fleeting breath,
A sigh too brief to measure.
My King has crushed the curse of death,
And I am His forever.

Regeneration vs Decisionism

The true and proper way of evangelizing. A must watch for all who are distressed over the countless multitude being deceived every week by false gospels and false christs.

Why can't we have conferences like these in Singapore

How I pray that one day we could have conferences and preachers of God's Word like this.

True Church Conference 2009

If you share my passion for the building of true churches for the glory of God, then join us February 19-22, 2009, and pray that God will allow us to dive into His Word examining and experiencing the wonderful grace of repentance. Repentance is not a doctrine of which to be fearful but one for which we should be deeply grateful! After all, receiving grace to turn from darkness, condemnation, and despair to find light, justification, and hope is not a bad thing but a wondrously good thing!

Striving not to build great churches but true churches…for the glory of God,

I will not hear your prayers

“ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
“ When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
- Isaiah 1: 11 - 15

Basically what it feels like right now

His Word will not return Void

“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
“ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
“ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
“ For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
- Isaiah 55: 8 - 13

May the Word of the Lord be preached faithfully to all the Nations.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

*Edit* The Book of Isaiah is a really incredible book. And to think that I've only ever read seriously a few chapters here and there from it. Isaiah 55 is indeed one of the most complete Gospel Calls ever given for Man.

Fitting God into a mould?

Dogs,Crumbs and a Faith to Emulate (Jeff Noblit)



From here

"I'm not here to damage your self-esteem, I'm here to obliterate it" - Jeff Noblit

From East To West

Though I do not agree with some of the lyrics theologically, the reminder that our sins have been removed as far as the East is from the West is timely.

What is Man compared to God

A month or two ago my church youth service had a guest speaker from another church come and give a sermon based on overcoming fear of spirits and demons. While I do not want to go into what the details of the sermon were (though I can say I did not quite agree with the focus of the whole thing), what really stuck to me was what he said at the end of the sermon.

I can't quite recall what was the topic leading up to it, but he said that if someone thanks him for preaching, he does not believe in saying "Thank God", because "God could probably preach better than him", but rather to just say "you're welcome." While I definitely agree that God could do a better job preaching, or in fact doing anything on his own rather than relying on weak, sinful Man, the way he seemed to dismissively ridicule the very act of thanking God has rankled me up till this day.

Just to address the first part quickly, why would God choose to work though weak Man rather than on His own, one must first accept the fact that whatever God does is for His own Glory and Name's sake and that God is jealous and passionate for His Glory. Once we accept this fact, then the answer becomes clear. While yes, God will get Glory when He works apart from Man, but how much more Glory and Praise does God receive when not only does He accomplish what He accomplishes by His own Hand, but He is also able to use and empower weak Man for His purposes. It is in fact a double honour to Him. Just like prayer, if God gives you something without you praying for it He receives Glory for providing, but if He gives you something that you have prayed for, does He not receive the added Glory of answering prayer? Kind of answers the question that people always ask that if God is going to provide for His people anyway, why do we still need to pray for provision.

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." - 1 Corinthians 3:7 (ESV)

However as I stated above, what really irked me was the way he dismissed the acknowledgment of God. While not explicit in the statement, one could sense the lack of reverence and knowledge of how lowly Man is. When one reads the accounts of God's conversations with Man in books like Job, Jeremiah and Isaiah, one is completely blown away by the awesomeness and "incredibleness" of God.

"LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow." - Psalm 144: 3-4 (NKJV)

"Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?" - Isaiah 2:22 (NKJV)

From where does Man's life come from? Or where does he receive understanding? Is it not all from God and by the Grace of God? Why then does Man boast in his wisdom or in his accomplishments? Man is but a breath of air and he is not even assured of taking another without the Grace of God.

I know there are many definitions of Sin, but one that seems to come to my mind often is this, Sin is anything, whether action, thought or motive, that is not for or acknowledges the Glory of God.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

God gives grace for Man to preach His Word. God gives each and every breath a Man breathes. Do you dare, even for one nanosecond, to take any glory for yourself in whatever you do. While I thank God indeed that He can use preachers like Paul Washer, John Piper and Don Carson as He does, I am ever wary not to idolize the man, but to instead look to the God who gives these man such wisdom and strength and say that He is indeed Worthy to be praised.

Your Best Life Now?

It is,...... if you're not a Christian

Contending for THE Faith

Just finished MacArthur's book "The Truth War" today after basically devouring almost two-thirds of the book in a marathon 4 hour session while at a super long wedding dinner. Based around the Book of Jude, MacArthur highlights the urgent need for the Church to rouse herself from her apathy to sound doctrine and to contend earnestly for the Apostolic Faith. Combined with today's bible study on 1 Timothy 4, as well as with certain unsavoury events that have occurred over the past couple of weeks, there is indeed the need for all true Christians to stand up and be willing to defend the central tenets and sound doctrines of biblical and historical Christianity.


"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,..."
- 1 Timothy 4: 1-2

Opening the chapter, it is abundantly clear that there will be deceiving doctrines and counterfeit gospels. In fact, if there is one thing that quite a number of the Epistles touch on, aside from Christ and the Gospel, it is the warning to hold on to sound doctrine and teachings. There are so many false prophets and false christs running around today and the carnage they leave behind is plain to see.

" If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness....... These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine..... Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you."
- 1 Timothy 4: 6 - 16

It is interesting, and indeed quite sad, how we so often take verse 12 out of context, especially in youth ministries. We use it to justify and encourage youths to "move in the spirit" and to contribute in youth ministry, not realizing the context that Paul is writing to Timothy. While yes indeed physical age should not be a barrier to one's serving in church, Paul's emphasis seems to be on the doctrine that Timothy should use in nourishing himself and in the teaching of others. How many times have we used this verse to call youths out and then directed them to the reading, studying and meditating on God's Word? Have we ever instructed them to give themselves ENTIRELY into the study of doctrine and that the fruit of such study will be evident to all?

What has happened to our doctrine? In our ignorance we had elevated doctrine to a higher plane that only few could understand and relegated its teaching to something of secondary (if indeed it is that high) importance. We would rather concentrate on "applying the Word" and on motivational speeches and "catering to people's needs". If indeed that one can only discover who God truly is through His Word with the Holy Spirit, how many people in the church really know God?

Because we would rather cater to itching ears and unregenerate hearts, so many people are left ignorant of who God truly is and they are carried with every wind of (unsound) doctrine. Some of the more apparent issues would of course be things like the health-and-wealth gospel, feminism, "carnal christianity" or lukewarmness and backsliding. So often in the Church, especially in an Asian context like Singapore, we would rather compromise on sound doctrine than to hold fast to what is True. All in the name of "unity" and harmony.

In deciding to stand for the Truth, one is faced with a hard question. Are you willing to forsake all that you have in contending for the Faith? Are you willing to lose all your friends and earthly reputation for the sake of standing up for the Truth? Are you ready for the barbs and gossips and rumour-mongering that will inevitably crop up once you make a stand for God? But yet, this is a stand that all who trully love the Lord and His Glory will have to make, for in a sense, there is no middle ground.

*Edit* My friend here just so happened to have written on the importance of doctrine on the same night as I wrote this post. He probably does a much better job of articulating the issue at hand than me because he is a doctor-to-be and I am just in a glorified polytechnic (As I always like to call NUS Science :P)

Some Thoughts

A video that Charles introduced to me some time back. Finally decided to post it here for the benefit of all who pass by. Will comment on some thoughts I have on it later, God willing.

The Prosperity Gospel and John Piper

"God is most glorified in you when you are most satsified in Him
in the midst of loss, not prosperity"
- John Piper

*Edit* I dun think I will comment on this just yet. Hopefully will do so
sometime during the coming week

Life's Thin Thread

It is indeed a tragedy that while life hangs literally by a thread for all Man, we would rather preach and talk about "happy" and "inspirational" things or give motivational self-help pep talks every Sunday. Rather than confront people with the Truth of God's Word, with their sinfulness and rebellion against God, we would instead endeavor to build up their self-esteem or soothe their wounded pride. We would rather give them painkillers instead of giving them the bitter medicine that saves.

"For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." -1 Corinthians 2:2 (NKJV)

But while I may go on my usual tirade on the almost pathetic state of preaching in churches nowadays, I have decided instead to look at something just as sobering, if not more so.

One would have read in the newspapers today about two deaths that would seem almost in direct contrast with each other. One is of a man who has lived for over eight decades and who has for almost all intents and purposes been in the twilight of his life for at least a decade if not more. The other is of a boy, just twenty years of age, not even old enough to vote, who seemed to have his whole life ahead of him. One died in his sleep, the other died doing pull-ups. One had seen all and done all. The other thought he was going to see all and do all.

Yet one thing in common they had was that both had just the day before talked, laughed and/or cried with others. Both had plans for the future, one to run for the 2011 elections, the other to become an air force technician. And now, both of them are gone. To heaven or hell, who knows? But that is not the main point here.

Anyone who has followed the news over the past month would also recall the death of a 15 year old girl and her supposed 23 year old god-father after jumping from a HDB flat. Or the 16 year-old boy who so wanted to get a thrill driving that he went and sneaked out with his brother's car. Dead after crashing into a tree. I know an acquaintance of mine who at 21 years of age is suffering from two separate cancers. My class rep back in JC died at 20 from Leukemia suddenly just as it seemed he would recover.

Why this morbid fascination with death you may ask. It is not so much that I "like" reading or hearing such things, but rather that every time one reads of such things, one cannot help but think of all those youths who live their lives as though they would never die, never would be called to account for what they had done in their lives. When one is young, death often seems so far away or something that will never come. "I can repent tomorrow and get my life in order, but today I want to enjoy myself." What tragedy! They believe that tomorrow will always come, not knowing that no one can have assurance that he will wake up the next morning. Is it not all the more urgent for them to know the Gospel. To repent and believe before it is too late. Before that Day when the trumpets will sound and grace will be taken away and the dead will be judged before Christ. Maybe that is why I so detest preaching that tells Man to come to Christ so that he can get his best life now, or so that he can be blessed with so much material and worldly blessings that will turn to dust eventually.

"By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
- Hebrews 11: 9-10

Life indeed is so fragile. Man, like a flower, is here today, then gone tomorrow. Like a vapour he appears for a little while, then vanishes away. All the material goods one stores up for himself in this life, in the end moth and rust destroy and one's enjoyment of earthly delights fade away into nothingness with time.

And yet, we would rather continue pursing such things. Is it not madness? Indeed I am so often the maddest one of all, for so often does my heart stray from the magnificent obsession that is Christ to things of silver and things of gold.

If only youths and people in general would consider the fragility of their lives more seriously, then hopefully they would become sober and self-controlled and seek with all earnestness the one thing that will last into eternity and beyond. So that one day when you swing out into eternity on a scarlet thread, that scarlet thread, which is Christ, will be enough.