The reflecting theologian

One thing about going for inter-denominational mission trips is that you meet people who are fervent and serious about doing missions for God. And that makes one think and reflect how serious we are when it comes to missions, especially the way they love people. I'm beginning to believe that love is really hard work and it takes practise. We need to practice love in our daily lives and only that it can be shown in the mission field. I was just sitting on the car earlier while returning to base and began to have this daydream. I was imagining a time when God decided to take me home early and God was asking me how I felt. My response was to tell God that I felt that I have yet accomplished a lot of things for Him and I dun want to be home so early although God assured me that He has His plans for me and the rest of the people around me. Eventually He allowed me to return with the conditions that I quit my job and do His work. On reflection, I am not sure if this imagined scene re...

Court to decide if Christians can wear a cross openly at work LONDON: The British government is set to argue that Christians do not have the right to wear a cross or crucifix openly at work, in a landmark court case which will be heard by the European Court of Human Rights. The case will seek to establish the human rights of two British women to display the cross, while the government will argue that because the Christian faith does not 'require' them to wear the cross, it does not fall under the remit of human rights. The two women took their fight to the European Court last year after both faced disciplinary action for wearing a cross at work. One of them had lost an earlier employment tribunal decision at the Court of Appeal and was also refused permission to go to the Supreme Court. This is the first time that the British government has been forced to state whether it backs the rights of Christians to wear the symbol at work, the Sunday Telegraph reported. It comes soon af...

'Nothing really prepared me for what I saw' By Kwan Weng Kin TOKYO: Singaporean Lai Ying Loong was in Japan's capital when the earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11 last year. 'Although I was in Tokyo, I struggled to find normality in the aftershocks that followed. There is a certain part of the horror that I share with the people of Tohoku. You realise they have to deal with so many challenges just to survive. As a human being, I felt I had to do something for them,' says the 36-year-old, who has been working in Tokyo for several years. Since then, he has been making weekend trips to the affected Tohoku region about once a month, joining other volunteers first in clearing debris and more recently in bringing cheer to survivors. On his first few trips, when basic necessities were still scarce in the disaster areas, he had to bring his own water, sleeping bag and boots, and slept in tents. He kept going back. 'It was clear there was so much to do. Most disas...

It was Edwin and Christine's wedding yesterday and I had the privilege to help them to coordinate with the Uni-YA people on the attendance as well to help in the praise and worship during the church wedding. Both are friends from my first LG in church and it is really surreal to see friends who weren't together when you first knew then getting married. Well, now waiting for the other people from my ex and current LG - their big day I mean

This is just a short musing about my own finance. I remember the days of my student days in NUS and the days of job search. Those were trying times, because of the finances. I knew that God blessed me with enough to make do with my everyday needs and my ministry spending but there were times when I struggled with my finances. There were days when I had to think twice before boarding a bus or had to live with whatever 2 dollar notes I have in the wallet for a week or so. It wasn't that I had no financial assistance. NUS gives me a loan allowance every year, but that's till I graduate. Thinking back those days, now I take home in one month about the same amount of my annual loan allowance back then. Indeed, God has blessed me. And indeed, this has taught me to be generous with my own resources. Because I know I have more than enough for my own needs. A little with God is better than more without.

Listening to this Jay Chou song (yes, I'm still a fan of his music... not him per se though he is talented enough musically) just sort of touch a nerve in my heart. Thinking of my own leadership experience in church and I wonder how many people often have the perception that their leaders are supermen or superwomen, thus having unrealistic expectation on them? How many leaders, not only in Hope, became the victims of unrealistic expectation being thrusted upon them by the people they lead? Perhaps as followers, we also ought to ask ourselves this question if we are unilaterally assuming that our leaders are superpeople without realising that they are human like us. Perhaps before we start to be harsh on the leadership, may I just ask people if they apply the same standard and expectation by which they judge their leaders on themselves? I just wonder.

I was just talking to a sister about missions and start to wonder about the general conception of mission in Hope Church. Remembering what a brother told me last time, that in the past, when one talks about mission in Hope, it always refers to church planting. Today, it is a different story. As Hope folks expose themselves to more opportunities around the world, suddenly mission opportunities begin to open up and one can almost choose to go mission with whichever missionary organisation in the market. Yet, in conjunction with the perception of mission being solely almost about church planting (which of course is a misconception since Paul's mission trip included the strengthening of the existing churches as well), there is also a common perception of missions almost always involving outreach. In some sense, this is true. Mission, probably understood, should never be about doing the mission things, but should be grounded and understood in the light of the Great Commission. Almos...