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Gifts From Above

6 November 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

I have a new hobby: photography. My adult children asked me what I would like for a retirement gift. After some thought I said, “A camera.” I named a model that is suitable for self-recording videos and taking good pictures”. In the end, they generously gave me a better model and I was happy to receive this improved gift.

Since then I have been taking lots of photographs and started an additional Instagram account @visiojourney to assist in my learning journey. However, I have yet to begin making teaching video content for my YouTube channel. Lord, give me your grace to start.

An engrossing hobby

Photography has been an engaging and fun hobby with so much to learn. There are so much technical knowledge and skills to understand and develop and I am so thankful for the many instructional videos available in YouTube to learn these skills so I can go out and practice them.

I found that watching YouTube can also be engrossing and addictive for I ended up watching video after video telling you what kind of lenses are best for getting good photos. Because I am unconsciously seeking a short cut to better photographs, I keep watching these videos even though I already have lenses: a Viltrox 23mm f1.4 and a pancake Fujinon 27mm f2.8. “Maybe a better lens will help me make better images more quickly, without having to patiently learn the skills!” Of course, this is only partly true. Good lenses and equipment are vital, but so is having good photography knowledge and skills. Therefore, I need to remind myself to obtain more skills and resist the temptation of buying more and better lenses.

Providence in buying second-hand lenses

However, to complete my system, I needed a zoom lens and after watching many reviews I finally settled on a Fujinon kit lens, the ubiquitous 18-55mm and the newer Fujinon 16-80mm f4 lenses. I checked Carousell and consulted Matt, my son, and he recommended the older kit lens, and even offered to pay for me. What a pleasant surprise! I was thrilled, of course. I completed the transaction and bought it at $300, a good price.

The Carousell transaction was interesting and frustrating. The meeting point was settled and I was there on time. “I am here in front of Fun toast”. Ten minutes later, I wrote: “Hi D–, I am waiting here at HillV2. Hope you did not forget our appointment”. Another twenty seven minutes later, the seller finally replied, “Hello, are you still there? So sorry. I just woke up. And my phone was dead the whole night. Please let me know. Apologise for this”. “I am here. Still waiting. Can you come soon?” “Ok I’m getting it and bringing it down”. When he arrived, he apologised again; I checked the lens and completed the transaction. I was surprised that in all, I waited a total of one hour and ten minutes.

Another interesting story of God’s provision was the wide/macro Xenvo kit for mobile phones that I had been eyeing and wanting to buy. Camera macro lenses are expensive and bulky so I had been looking at getting the portable and much cheaper Xenvo macro lens. Therefore when an acquaintance told the WhatsApp hiking group that he wants to sell this exact lens kit at half price, by God’s providence, I happen to open the message and straight away registered my interest and arranged to collect it. This time with another interesting thing happened.

I arranged to COD the item after I had pre-recorded my sermon for the Deaf Congregation of my home church. At his home, the hiking acquaintance surprised me and gave it to me free of charge. I never had the opportunity to know him as I was away from hiking during the last five years of my pastoral work. Even though he did not know me well, he generously gave me the Xenvo kit free of charge. I felt grateful and touched by this blessing, and also that God was showing me that he does care for the details of my everyday life, not just my needs but also my wants. I must say photography is fun, and I hope it will always remind me of God’s love and faithfulness. I hope every time I use these gifts, it becomes a trigger of thanksgiving to God.

LORD, you are faithful and abounding in love, and I feel overwhelmed by the generosity of loved ones and acquaintances. You provide not only for my needs but also my wants for it pleases you to bless me. Bless the givers and help me use these gifts for the joy of photography and the praise of your name.

Christ’s Finished Work – Deliverance

2 November 2021 blogpastor Leave a comment

Deliverance, in charismatic and Pentecostal circles, refer to the ministry that sets people free from demonic oppression and activity in their lives. Deliverance in this narrow sense is definitely one of the benefits of receiving Christ’s finished work. It is quite clear from Colossians 1:13 that God has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness under Satan’s rule, to the kingdom of light, under the lordship of Christ. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”. In the next chapter verse 15, apostle Paul gave the basis of this deliverance as the finished work of Christ: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Satan was defeated by Christ through his death and resurrection, and we Christians are no longer under his dominion or power.

Other attacks of the devil

Deliverance is not merely being set free from the demonic oppression. We also do not have to be afraid when we go through trials and temptations because the devil has no power over us. During such times, as in the case of the Christians apostle Peter wrote to, the devil prowls around persecuted Christians like a hunter after its prey, seeking to devour them, but if they dug in, endured suffering and persecution, and resisted the efforts of Satan to coerce them to give up our faith, they will be victorious (1 Peter 5:5-9 compare with 1 Cor 10:13).

Deliverance includes overcoming Satan’s fiery attacks on our mind and body. Jesus was attacked in his mind, appetite and desires during his forty days fast, and it was his faith in God that delivered him from the devil’s lies. In the same way, deliverance for all Christians can come through putting on the whole armour of God and fighting the fight of faith, and victory is possible only because of Christ, who is our shield, sword, belt, breastplate, helmet, and shoes (Eph 6:12-17).

Other kinds of deliverance

By extension, deliverance includes our deliverance from the coming wrath of God on the day of judgment (1Thess 1:10), from the power of sin in our life (Rom 7.23), from the power and influence of a world-system that does not bow to Christ (Gal 1:4), and from earthly enemies and persecutors(2 Tim 4:18).

The Old Testament has a more physical idea of deliverance and the main one was God’s rescue and deliverance of the people of Israel out of danger, death and bondage to slavery in Egypt in the Red Sea miracle. Of course this event pointed to Christ’s salvation of people who are slaves to sin, death and the devil. However, the physical and practical aspects of deliverance is for us as well.

The meaning of deliverance in the Old Testament was defined by the experiences of people in trouble and this includes sickness (Ps 107:20), fears (Ps 91:3), troubles (Ps 50:15), persecutors (Jer 1:7,8) and enemies (2 Sam22:1), and most relevant to us in these days of Covid-19 pandemic – deliverance from plagues (Ps 91:3). Israelites have experienced countless deliverances in their lives and so describe their God as the Deliverer (2 Samuel 22:2; Ps 40:17). We Christians can experience all these too, because it is in God’s nature to deliver and rescue and save his children. Christ’s finished work is an expression of God the Deliverer, and we should not limit our expectation of deliverance to spiritual blessings only, but to include the practical day to day occasions when we need his intervention and rescues.

(This is part 4 of a series: “A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work”)

Gleanings From My Blogroll

1 November 2021 blogpastor 4 Comments

I enjoyed reading some of the bloggers I follow in my blogroll. As usual some blogs have remained at hentai kaki (Malay for marching on the spot) while others have recently updated their blog.

The most prolific would be Rev Dr Tony Siew who blogs regularly about his faith ministry of bringing the word of God to rural Sabah. In his recent update he mentioned how he turned down two offers to teach in seminary, and one offer of a denominational position, in order to obey God’s instruction to him. Respect. Click here.

I loved the story of Ps Timothy Pang as he reminisced about the love of his late grandparents. I never experienced this at all. None of my grandparents were around – they all passed away before I was born. Click here.

Fr Chris Soh, a Jesuit priest, puts his homilies online in his blog and I believe we Protestant pastors can learn from him how to be more interesting in our introductions, and succinct in the content of our sermons, especially with the short attention span of the many who “watch” online services. Click here.

Ps Henson Lim has written an Ebook of his reflections on the Psalms that he is giving out free of charge. Don’t miss it. Did I say it: IT’S FREE. Click here.

Christina Siew reflects about Hell after her daughter told her non-Christian father, “Those who don’t believe in God, will go to health!’. Click here.

My Primary and Secondary school classmate, James Tann, reveals some interesting secrets about a breached dam wall and an old Bukit Batok Park. I admire his attention to historical details. Completely reliable stuff. No fake news. Go here and here.

Joanne Lee Wong writes another authentic piece that moved my heart. She is really good. Is it the University of Oxford? Methinks she writes from the heart. Click here.

Finally, I also had the pleasant discovery that Dr Alex Tang has produced quite a number of YouTube videos and I immediately subscribed to his channel before he asked me to. Here is another positive development that came out of the pandemic lockdowns! Here is one of them.